American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics
“America’s most popular sex columnist” has been giving frank advice to gay and straight adults via his popular syndicated column “Savage Love” for more than two decades, but his public profile was elevated significantly after cofounding the It Gets Better Project in 2010. Aimed at LGBT youth struggling with bullying and suicide, the award-winning YouTube campaign sparked the world’s attention when everyone from Ellen DeGeneres to President Obama recorded video messages of support, turning the spotlight on an important problem. Through books, podcasts, newspaper articles, speaking engagements, and frequent talk-show appearances, Savage has shrewdly parlayed his outspokenness into a lucrative and successful brand—regularly drawing the ire of religious conservatives and even other gay-rights advocates. With his latest collection of essays on “faith, sex, love, and politics,” he takes on gun control, Obamacare, sex education in public schools, and gay marriage, among other hot-button topics. His provocative points are sharply made but repetitively rephrased. Fans of Savage’s in-your-face rhetoric are sure to rally around his liberal pulpit, but new converts may be harder to come by. --Chris Keech