The nonfiction judges for this year’s Publishing Triangle Awards have bestowed a special award on Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987–1993, by Sarah Schulman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux).
In a joint statement, the judges said, “Because it spans the gay/lesbian structure of our nonfiction awards, we are presenting this special award to Let the Record Show as an outstanding achievement in LGBTQ nonfiction. This book examines the victories, strategic decisions, and defeats of the founding chapter of ACT UP. Schulman maintains a wide focus in telling how, in her words, ACT UP proved that ‘people from all walks of life, working together, can change the world.’ Resisting a popular cultural approach that has spotlighted a few gay white men in the movement as heroes, Let the Record Show examines the contributions of women and people of color to ACT UP’s successes as well.”
In The New York Times, Rebecca Makkai praised Let the Record Show, calling it “a masterpiece tome: part sociology, oral history, part memoir, part call to arms.” For providing us with this groundbreaking work of recent history, Schulman will receive a prize of $1000.