A MILESTONE IN GAY FICTION Phillip Froelich is in trouble. The year is 1946, and he’s traveling to Seattle where he will face a court martial for acting insubordinate to a lazy officer in the closing days of World War II. On the way to Seattle he meets Tim Danelaw, and soon the court martial is among the least of Phillip’s concerns.... So begins Quatrefoil, a novel originally published in 1950. It marked a milestone in gay writing, with two of the first non-stereotyped gay characters to appear in American fiction. For readers of the Fifties, it was a rare chance to counteract the negative imagery that surrounded them. Today, Quatrefoil ranks as a classic work of gay writing, a novel that is still as gripping and enjoyable as ever. It is of extra interest to the modern reader for the vivid picture it draws of what life was like for gay men in our recent but little-known past.
Searching for an introduction to the shadowy, intriguing world of early 20th century gay-themed fiction? In Lost Gay Novels, respected pop culture historian Anthony Slide resurrects fifty early 20th century American novels with gay themes or characters and discusses them in carefully researched, engaging prose. Each entry offers you a detailed discussion of plot and characters, a summary of contemporary critical reception, and biographical information on the often-obscure writer. In Lost Gay Novels, another aspect of gay life and society is, in the words the author, uncloseted, providing you with an absorbing glimpse into the world of these nearly forgotten books. Lost Gay Novels gives you an introduction to: authors who aren't usually associated with homosexuality, including John Buchan, James M. Cain, and Rex Stout the history of gay publishing in the US and abroad gay themes in novels published between 1917 and 1950with entries from nearly every year! the ways in which the popular culture of the time shaped the authors' attitudes toward homosexuality the difficulty of finding detailed biographical information on little-known authors If you're interested in gay studies or history, or even if you're just looking for a comprehensive guide to titles you've probably never heard of before, Lost Gay Novels will be a welcome addition to your collection. The introduction from author Slidecalled by the Los Angeles Times a one-man publishing phenomenonprovides you with an overview to the basics of this landmark collection. Themes found in many of the titles include death, secrecy, and living a double life, and in reading the entries you will discover just why these themes are so common. As Slide says in his introduction: The approach of the novelist toward homosexuality may not always be a positive one but the works are important to an understanding of contemporary attitudes toward gay men and gay society. Lost Gay Novels will help you further your own understanding of the dynamic relationship between literature and culture, and you will finish the book with a greater appreciation of modern American gay fiction.
An extraordinary modern novel in the Victorian tradition, Charles Palliser has created something extraordinary—a plot within a plot within a plot of family secrets, mysterious clues, low-born birth, high-reaching immorality, and, always, always the fog-enshrouded, enigmatic character of 19th century—London itself. “So compulsively absorbing that reality disappears . . . One is swept along by those enduring emotions that defy modern art and a random universe: hunger for revenge, longing for justice and the fantasy secretly entertained by most people that the bad will be punished and the good rewarded.”—The New York Times “A virtuoso achievement . . . It is an epic, a tour de force, a staggeringly complex and tantalizingly layered tale that will keep readers engrossed in days. . . . The Quincunx will not disappoint you. It is, quite simply, superb.”—Chicago Sun-Times “A bold and vivid tale that invites the reader to get lost in the intoxicating rhythms of another world. And the invitation is irresistible.”—San Francisco Chronicle “A remarkable book . . . In mood, color, atmosphere and characters, this is Charles Dickens reincarnated . . . It is an immersing experience.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review “To read the first pages is to be trapped for seven-hundred odd more: you cannot stop turning them.”—The New Yorker “Few books, at most a dozen or two in a lifetime, affect us this way. . . . For sheer intricacy and ingenuity, for skill and clarity of storytelling, it is the kind of book readers wait for, a book to get lost in.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
A collection of gay erotic writings tracing the development of a gay identity from the late 19th century to just before the Stonewall Inn riots Long before the rise of the modern gay movement, an unnoticed literary revolution was occurring, mostly between the covers of the cheaply produced pulp paperbacks of the post-World War II era. Cultural critic Michael Bronski collects a sampling of these now little-known gay erotic writings—some by writers long forgotten, some never known and a few now famous. Through them, Bronski challenges many long-held views of American postwar fiction and the rise of gay literature, as well as of the culture at large. CONTENTS Part One Mainstream Fiction: Not Particularly Hiding in the Shadows Harrison Dowd, The Night Air, Dial Press, 1950 Lonnie Coleman, Sam, David McKay, 1959 Part Two The New Gay Novel: Happier Homos and Happier Endings James Barr, "Spurr Piece" from Derricks, Greenberg, 1951 Jay Little, Maybe—Tomorrow, Pageant Press, 1952 Part Three Truly Pulp: "Gay" Life in the Shadows Michael De Forrest, The Gay Year, Woodford Press, 1949 Vin Packer (Marijane Meaker), Whisper His Sin, Fawcett Gold Medal Books, 1954 Ben Travis, The Strange Ones, Beacon Book, 1959 James Colton (Joseph Hansen), Lost on Twilight Road, National Library, 1964 Jeff X, The Memoirs of Jeff X, Zil, 1968 Part Four Out of the Twilight World: The Sexual Revolution Goes Lavender The Boys of Muscle Beach, Guild Press, 1969 (reprint from the 1950s) Richard Amory, Song of the Loon, Greenleaf Classics, 1966 Carl Corley, My Purple Winter, PEC French Line, 1966 Jack Love, Gay Whore, PEC French Line, 1967 Chris Davidson, A Different Drum, Ember Library/Greenleaf Classics, 1967 Part Five The World Split Open: Life and Literature After Stonewall Marcus Miller, Gay Revolution, Pleasure Reader, 1969 Bruce Benderson, Kyle, Crusier Classics, 1975 Victor Jay, The Gay Haunt, Traveller's Companion, 1970 John Ironstone, Gay Rights, El Dorado Editions, 1978 Appendix: Gay Novels, 1940-1969 Bibliography
One dark and stormy night in 1956, a stranger named Fludd mysteriously turns up in the dismal village of Fetherhoughton. He is the curate sent by the bishop to assist Father Angwin-or is he? In the most unlikely of places, a superstitious town that understands little of romance or sentimentality, where bad blood between neighbors is ancient and impenetrable, miracles begin to bloom. No matter how copiously Father Angwin drinks while he confesses his broken faith, the level of the bottle does not drop. Although Fludd does not appear to be eating, the food on his plate disappears. Fludd becomes lover, gravedigger, and savior, transforming his dull office into a golden regency of decision, unashamed sensation, and unprecedented action. Knitting together the miraculous and the mundane, the dreadful and the ludicrous, Fludd is a tale of alchemy and transformation told with astonishing art, insight, humor, and wit.
Sharon Shinn's Twelve Houses books have fascinated readers and critics alike with their irresistible blend of fantasy, romance, and adventure. Now in Quatrain, she weaves compelling stories in four of the worlds that readers love in Flight, Blood, Gold, and Flame.
In 1951, a new type of publication appeared on newsstands—the physique magazine produced by and for gay men. For many men growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, these magazines and their images and illustrations of nearly naked men, as well as articles, letters from readers, and advertisements, served as an initiation into gay culture. The publishers behind them were part of a wider world of “physique entrepreneurs”: men as well as women who ran photography studios, mail-order catalogs, pen-pal services, book clubs, and niche advertising for gay audiences. Such businesses have often been seen as peripheral to the gay political movement. In this book, David K. Johnson shows how gay commerce was not a byproduct but rather an important catalyst for the gay rights movement. Offering a vivid look into the lives of physique entrepreneurs and their customers, and presenting a wealth of illustrations, Buying Gay explores the connections—and tensions—between the market and the movement. With circulation rates many times higher than the openly political “homophile” magazines, physique magazines were the largest gay media outlets of their time. This network of producers and consumers helped foster a gay community and upend censorship laws, paving the way for open expression. Physique entrepreneurs were at the center of legal struggles, especially against the U.S. Post Office, including the court victory that allowed full-frontal male nudity and open homoeroticism. Buying Gay reconceives the history of the gay rights movement and shows how consumer culture helped create community and a site for resistance.
