MY TWO WIVES AND THREE HUSBANDS

An erudite charmer documents his ongoing adventures in love and culture through 80-plus years “in the life”—from Rittenhouse Square to London’s West End.

First-time author Gordon’s breezy autobiography begins with a caution to the reader: “If concepts like Hopeless Romantic, Love at First Sight or Head Over Heels make you nauseous, this book is definitely not for you.” Born to working-class Russian-Jewish immigrants in 1920s Philadelphia, Gordon, née Samuel Grodsky, knew early on that he was different; after unrequited crushes on neighbor boys and desperate trips to the library to read Havelock Ellis, the amiable young man ambles into what would eventually become a lucrative career in optometry and a truly amazing life story. He marries, divorces, dabbles and dithers, marries again, has a son and eventually realizes he’s gay. Then the fun begins; cruising, swank Hollywood parties, lots of sex, the pursuit of love (a recurring theme), glamorous midcentury gay New York, Broadway semitriumphs and tragedies, lots more sex and love (with the titular husbands) and a graceful slide into vigorous middle age and beyond. The book chronicles Gordon’s long and mostly absurdly happy life to date with stylish candor and humility. His engaging prose is chatty without being catty, and sexy without being sleazy; better still, he tells his tale of fabulousness without resorting to the bland narcissism that sully many memoirs—especially the happy ones. There’s no false modesty, but neither is there boasting or gratuitous name-dropping. Even when he dishes on celebs such as Tallulah Bankhead or Lawrence Harvey, it’s more wittily self-deprecating than vicious. Gordon’s is a fascinating life, and his boundless joy at his good fortune is genuine—and contagious. The only thing his book lacks is pictures.

An instant classic of its kind (i.e., Christopher’s kind) and required reading for inquisitive young queers, dyspeptic old conservatives and just about anyone who has a heart.