The Stranger Next Door

With strong on-the-ground research and lucid analysis, Arlene Stein sets out to discover why the people of a town with no apparent queer population were hell-bent on getting rid of those individuals' "special rights." The Stranger Next Door's contemporary subject and theoretical breadth coupled with a remarkable lack of jargon should make it a sociological classic.... A wonderful companion to an introductory sociology course, as well as courses on theory, sexuality, deviance, inequality, and religion .-Mary Bernstein, American Journal of Sociology "By combining the meticulousness of an ethnographer with a writer's commitment to storytelling, Stein has written a book that's surprisingly compelling-or, better, compelling because it's surprising." -David L. Kirp, The Nation "A fascinating look at the psychology of fear and persuasion." -Monica Drake, The Oregonian

Arlene Stein is associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University. She has written for The Nation, The Oregonian, and Newsday, among other publications, and is the author of Sex and Sensibility: Stories of a Lesbian Generation and editor of Sisters, Sexperts, Queers.