Scan barcode
A review by hernamewaslily
Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade by Justin Spring
5.0
A decade in the making, Justin Spring’s ‘Secret Historian’ presents the life and times of the multi-hyphenate (he was a novelist, professor, tattoo artist and sexual renegade) Samuel Steward (1909-1993). Utilising never-before-seen diaries, correspondence, and other unpublished and/or out-of-print writing, Spring documents Steward’s life from his childhood in Ohio, where he had his first sexual experiences as a boy with his straight male schoolmates, his early success as a novelist and career as a gifted and much-loved English professor, to his working relationship with Alfred Kinsey, to whom he detailed his sex life in epic detail – a feat in the era of McCarthyism – his pivot from academia to tattooing (or ‘tatdoodling’ as steward referred to it as) and his days as a gay pulp fiction/pornography writer.
Not only was the story of Steward’s life fascinating but Spring’s writing is also commendable. Though a rather large and dense book, it is easy to read and utterly enthralling. Spring clearly has a deep respect for his subject, and this shines through in his prose which lucidly details the complex life of this a one-of-a-kind man – which is by no means an easy feat considering that Shepard used a number of aliases throughout his life – and finally brings him the recognition he deserves.
I really loved this book; it was just so interesting to read about a person who achieved so much but faded into obscurity. I’ve been missing my days spent researching when I was at uni, and this really brought me back to that feeling of discovering something or someone you never knew existed.
Not only was the story of Steward’s life fascinating but Spring’s writing is also commendable. Though a rather large and dense book, it is easy to read and utterly enthralling. Spring clearly has a deep respect for his subject, and this shines through in his prose which lucidly details the complex life of this a one-of-a-kind man – which is by no means an easy feat considering that Shepard used a number of aliases throughout his life – and finally brings him the recognition he deserves.
I really loved this book; it was just so interesting to read about a person who achieved so much but faded into obscurity. I’ve been missing my days spent researching when I was at uni, and this really brought me back to that feeling of discovering something or someone you never knew existed.