In The Stranger Next Door, Alrene Stein explores how a small community with a declining industrial economy became the site of a bitter battle over gay rights. Fearing job loss and a feeling of being left behind, one Oregon town’s working-class residents allied with religious conservatives to deny the civil liberties of queer men and women. In a book that combines strong on-the-ground research and lucid analysis with a novelist’s imaginative sympathy, Stein’s exploration of how fear and uncertainty can cause citizens to shift blame onto “strangers” provides insight into the challenges the country faces in the age of Trump.
Winner of the 2001 Ruth Benedict Award
- ISBN10 0807079537
- ISBN13 9780807079539
- Publish Date 16 April 2002 (first published 1 April 2001)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 11 January 2023
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Beacon Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 280
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780807079539