Įlectric Literature and NPR named Let the Record Show one of the best nonfiction books of 2021. A separate Jewish Currents response to Osterweil's article said Osterweil had misrepresented why Schulman disputed the presence of Black trans activists at the Stop the Church action. In an otherwise positive review, Osterweil said that Schulman had not accurately represented the presence and influence of trans members of ACT UP.

Still, her firsthand perspective and copious details provide a valuable testament to the courage and dedication of many unheralded activists.' įreelance writer Vicky Osterweil criticized Let the Record Show in a Jewish Currents article in fall 2021. Publishers Weekly's primarily positive review noted, 'Readers less familiar with ACT UP may wish for a clearer explanation of its organizational structure and more narrative cohesion than Schulman provides. Let the Record Show doesn’t seek to memorialize history but to ransack it, to seize what we might need.' Rebecca Makkai's review in The New York Times Book Review called Let the Record Show 'a masterpiece tome: part sociology, part oral history, part memoir, part call to arms'. The New York Times's Parl Sehgal explains, 'This is a book about the past, written in the fury of the present - in the midst of another epidemic - but its gaze is fixed on the future.

The critical reception to Let the Record Show has overall been positive, including a review The New Yorker. It will also be a foundational document for historians for generations to come.'

Kirkus called the book 'ital, democratic truth-telling,' and Library Journal noted, 'This engaging, accessible book will find a wide audience among readers interested in activism from the ground up. Let the Record Show was generally well-received, including starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Library Journal. Schulman recounts different ACT UP members' experiences joining the movement and their contributions to large actions like Stop the Church and demonstrations in front of the Food and Drug Administration, New York Stock Exchange, and National Institutes of Health. See also: ACT UP § ACT UP New York actions

A political history of act up