The Sixth Man by Jess Stearn is a work of sensationalist non-fiction published in 1961 that investigates and reports on the topic of homosexuality in the United States during that era. The book’s title refers to the author’s then-startling claim that one man in every six is homosexual. The book is a journalistic investigation into the lives of gay men in 1960s America. Stearn, a journalist for the New York Daily News and an associate editor for Newsweek, specialized in what was termed “speculative non-fiction” focusing on marginalized groups and taboo subjects. The book uses interviews and reporting to explore the “secret world” of the homosexual community at the time. The work treats a subject that was considered controversial and largely unaddressed in mainstream publishing at the time. The author posits that one in every six men is likely homosexual, a claim featured prominently on the book’s cover. It was presented as a serious “report of one of the most frightening surveys conducted since the Kinsey books” according to its promotional materials.
