Quentin Crisp

If there is such a thing as reason, it has to be universal. Reason must reflect objective principles whose validity is independent of our point of view - principles that anyone with enough intelligence ought to be able to recognize as correct. But this universality of reason is what relativists and subjectivists deny in ever-increasing numbers. And such subjectivism is not just an inconsequential intellectual flourish or badge of theoretical chic. It is exploited to deflect argument and to belittle the pretensions of the arguments of others. The continuing spread of this relativistic way of thinking threatens to make public discourse increasingly difficult and unproductive. . In The Last Word, Thomas Nagel, one of the most influential philosophers writing in English, presents a sustained defense of reason against the attacks of subjectivism, delivering systematic rebuttals of relativistic claims with respect to language, logic, science, and ethics. He shows that the last word in disputes about the objective validity of any form of thought must lie in some unqualified thoughts about how things are - thoughts that we cannot regard from outside as mere psychological dispositions. His work sets a new standard in the debate on this crucially important question and should generate intense interest both within and outside the philosophical community.

Quentin Crisp, long famous as "one of the great stately homos of England," exiled himself to America in 1982 after he discovered that in New York "happiness rains down from the sky." Resident Alien is the often bitingly, amusing account of his love affair with the Big Apple. His affecting words cover topics from politics to prejudice, from the human spirit to the individual obstacles he faces every day in his solitary life. The spirit of his adopted city is captured as well in uniquely Crispian turns of phrase. But the real flavor of his writing lies not in the punchy one-liners but instead in his mixture of wicked humor and gentle wisdom, of raconteurial flair and analytical rigor, of almost superhuman tolerance for the follies and evils of the age.

A collection of Crisp's witty and perceptive movie reviews for Christopher Street.

A comical and poignant memoir of a gay man living life as he pleased in the 1930s In 1931, gay liberation was not a movement—it was simply unthinkable. But in that year, Quentin Crisp made the courageous decision to "come out" as a homosexual. This exhibitionist with the henna-dyed hair was harrassed, ridiculed and beaten. Nevertheless, he claimed his right to be himself—whatever the consequences. The Naked Civil Servant is both a comic masterpiece and a unique testament to the resilience of the human spirit.