Let the Record Show (Schulman book)

{{Short description|2021 oral history of ACT UP by Sarah Schulman}}

{{Infobox book

| name = Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987–1993

| author = Sarah Schulman

| country = United States

| language = English

| image = File:Let the Record Show (Schulman book).jpg

| caption = First edition

| genre = Oral history

| publisher = Farrar, Straus and Giroux

| pub_date = 2021

| pages = 702

| isbn = 9780374185138

| oclc = 1182573401

}}

Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987–1993 is a 2021 oral history written by former ACT UP activist Sarah Schulman.{{cite news |last1=Makkai |first1=Rebecca |title=In 'Let the Record Show,' Sarah Schulman Erects a Monument to the AIDS Movement |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/books/review/let-the-record-show-sarah-schulman.html |access-date=24 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=20 May 2021}} Using 188 interviews conducted as part of the ACT UP Oral History Project,{{cite web |title=Nonfiction Book Review: Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $40 (736p) ISBN 978-0-374-18513-8 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-374-18513-8 |website=Publishers Weekly |access-date=24 September 2021 |language=en}} Schulman shows how the activist group was successful, due to its decentralized, dramatic actions, and emphasizes the contributions of people of color and women to the movement.

Summary

Schulman recounts different ACT UP members' experiences joining the movement and their contributions to large actions like Stop the Church and demonstrations in front of the Food and Drug Administration, New York Stock Exchange, and National Institutes of Health.

Reception

Let the Record Show was generally well-received,{{Cite web |title=Book Marks reviews of Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman |url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/let-the-record-show-a-political-history-of-act-up-new-york-1987-1993// |access-date=June 3, 2024 |website=Book Marks |language=en-US}} including starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews{{Cite web |date=2021-01-30 |title=Let the Record Show |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sarah-schulman/let-the-record-show/# |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=Kirkus Reviews}} and Library Journal.{{Cite web |last=Azzolina |first=David |date=2021-04-01 |title=Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987–1993 |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/let-the-record-show-a-political-history-of-act-up-new-york-19871993-2110270 |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Library Journal}} Kirkus called the book "[v]ital, democratic truth-telling," and Library Journal noted, "This engaging, accessible book will find a wide audience among readers interested in activism from the ground up. It will also be a foundational document for historians for generations to come."

The critical reception to Let the Record Show has overall been positive, including a review in The New Yorker.{{r|Hitt}} The New York Times's Parl Sehgal explains, "This is a book about the past, written in the fury of the present — in the midst of another epidemic — but its gaze is fixed on the future. Let the Record Show doesn’t seek to memorialize history but to ransack it, to seize what we might need."{{Cite news |last=Sehgal |first=Parul |date=2021-05-04 |title=A New Testament to the Fury and Beauty of Activism During the AIDS Crisis |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/books/review-let-record-show-act-up-sarah-schulman.html |access-date=2022-06-16 |issn=0362-4331}} Rebecca Makkai's review in The New York Times Book Review called Let the Record Show "a masterpiece tome: part sociology, part oral history, part memoir, part call to arms".{{Cite news |last=Makkai |first=Rebecca |date=2021-05-20 |title=In 'Let the Record Show,' Sarah Schulman Erects a Monument to the AIDS Movement |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/books/review/let-the-record-show-sarah-schulman.html |access-date=2022-06-16 |issn=0362-4331}}

Publishers Weekly's primarily positive review noted, "Readers less familiar with ACT UP may wish for a clearer explanation of its organizational structure and more narrative cohesion than Schulman provides. Still, her firsthand perspective and copious details provide a valuable testament to the courage and dedication of many unheralded activists."{{Cite web |date=2021-05-18 |title=Nonfiction Book Review: Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780374185138 |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=www.publishersweekly.com}}

Freelance writer Vicky Osterweil criticized Let the Record Show in a Jewish Currents article in fall 2021.{{cite news |last1=Osterweil |first1=Vicky |title=What the Record Doesn't Show |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/what-the-record-doesnt-show |access-date=2 November 2021 |work=Jewish Currents |date=September 22, 2021 |language=en}} In an otherwise positive review, Osterweil said that Schulman had not accurately represented the presence and influence of trans members of ACT UP.{{cite news |last1=Hitt |first1=Tarpley |title=Sarah Schulman: Conflict Is Sometimes Abuse Actually |url=https://www.gawker.com/media/sarah-schulman-conflict-is-sometimes-abuse-actually |access-date=2 November 2021 |work=Gawker |date=October 29, 2021 |language=en}} A separate Jewish Currents response to Osterweil's article said Osterweil had misrepresented why Schulman disputed the presence of Black trans activists at the Stop the Church action.{{cite news |last1=Gabriel |first1=Kay |date=October 2021 |title=On "What the Record Doesn't Show" |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/letters/on-what-the-record-doesnt-show |access-date=2 November 2021 |work=Jewish Currents |language=en}}

Electric Literature{{Cite web |date=2021-12-14 |title=Electric Lit's Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2021 |url=https://electricliterature.com/electric-lits-favorite-nonfiction-books-of-2021/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Electric Literature |language=en-US}} and NPR{{Cite web |title=Best Books 2021: Books We Love |url=https://apps.npr.org/best-books/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=NPR |language=en-US}} named Let the Record Show one of the best nonfiction books of 2021. Gay Times named it one of the best LBTQ Books of 2021,{{Cite web |last=RAZA-SHEIKH Raza-Sheik |first=Zoya |date=2021-12-28 |title=The 10 best LGBTQ+ books of 2021 |url=https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/the-10-best-lgbtq-books-of-2021/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=GAY TIMES |language=en-GB}} and NBC included it in their list of the 10 Most Notable LGBTQ Books of 2021.{{Cite web |last=Lavietes |first=Matt |date=2021-12-27 |title=From a queer love triangle to 999 pages of lesbian diaries, this was 2021 in LGBTQ books |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/10-notable-lgbtq-books-2021-rcna8707 |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=NBC News |language=en}}

class="wikitable"

|+Awards for Let the Record Show

!Year

!Award

!Result

!Ref.

2021

|Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize

|Longlist

|{{Cite web |date=2021-08-26 |title=Longlist for the 2021 Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize Announced. |url=https://bklyner.com/brooklyn-public-library-announces-2021-longlist-for-seventh-annual-literary-prize/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Bklyner |language=en}}

rowspan="5" |2022

|Gotham Book Prize

|Finalist

|{{Cite web |last=Schaub |first=Michael |date=2022-01-29 |title=Finalists for the 2022 Gotham Book Prize Revealed |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/finalists-for-the-2022-gotham-book-prize-revealed/ |access-date=2022-01-30 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Mechler |first=Anita |date=2022-01-28 |title=2022 Gotham Book Prize Finalists Announced {{!}} Book Pulse |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/2022-gotham-book-prize-finalists-announced-bookpulse |access-date=2022-01-30 |website=Library Journal}}

Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award

|Honor

|{{Cite web |last=Chapman |first=Monica |date=2022-02-01 |title=2022 Barbara Gittings Literature Award and Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award of the Stonewall Book Awards announced |url=https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2022/02/2022-barbara-gittings-literature-award-and-israel-fishman-non-fiction-award |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=News and Press Center |language=en}}

Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction

|Winner

|{{Cite web |last=Schaub |first=Michael |date=2022-06-13 |title=Lambda Literary Award Winners Are Revealed |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/lambda-literary-award-winners-are-revealed/ |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Segal |first=Corinne |date=2022-06-13 |title=Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards! |url=https://lithub.com/congratulations-to-the-winners-of-the-2022-lambda-literary-awards/ |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}

PEN/John Kenneth Galbriath Award

|Finalist

|{{Cite web |date=2022-01-26 |title=Announcing the 2022 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists |url=https://pen.org/literary-awards/2022-pen-america-finalists/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=PEN America |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Brownworth |first=Victoria A. |date=2022-01-28 |title=Author Sarah Schulman nominated for prestigious award |url=https://queerforty.com/when-our-activism-became-our-history-and-future |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Queer Forty |language=en-US}}

Publishing Triangle Awards Special Award

|Winner

|{{Cite web |date=2022-03-21 |title=Let the Record Show, by Sarah Schulman, Receives Special Award for Nonfiction |url=https://publishingtriangle.org/2022/03/sarah-schulman-award-nonfiction/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=The Publishing Triangle |language=en-US}}