The Naked Civil Servant is the first volume of an autobiography by the gay icon Quentin Crisp. It was later turned into a TV movie starring John Hurt, which was also titled The Naked Civil Servant.
The book started life as a radio interview with Crisp in 1964 conducted by his friend and fellow eccentric, Philip O'Connor, which was heard by the then managing director of Jonathan Cape, commissioned by him, and which was published in 1968. It only sold 3,500 copies when first released but became a success after a re-publication once the television version was shown.
The book contains many anecdotes about Crisp's life from childhood through to middle age. It documents the troubles he faced because of his refusal to hide his homosexuality and flamboyant lifestyle during a time when gay sex was illegal in the United Kingdom. Crisp also recalls how he had many jobs including a book designer, nude model and prostitute.
The title comes from Crisp's quip about being a nude art model; models are employed by schools and are ultimately paid by the Department for Education. They are essentially civil employees who are naked during office hours.
Famous quotes containing the words civil and/or servant:
“To the cry of “follow Mormons and prairie dogs and find good land,” Civil War veterans flocked into Nebraska, joining a vast stampede of unemployed workers, tenant farmers, and European immigrants.”
—For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The one point on which all women are in furious secret rebellion against the existing law is the saddling of the right to a child with the obligation to become the servant of a man.”
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