Gay classic books
James Jenkins: Publishing Missing Gay Classics
As a young reader, several of my favorite science fiction authors were lamentably out of print, so a trip to a used bookstore was a treasure hunt. There was always the possibility that I would find a rarity, or even a book previously unknown to me.
As an adult reader, I’m continually surprised at the breadth and depth of lgbtq+ fiction. The Stonewall riot may contain been the initiate of a civil rights movement, but it was not the beginning of our history. Instinct, coded cover art and friendly guidance has led me to many a title, and I’m glad that there are still surprises on this journey, chief among them Valancourt Books. My friend Trebor Healey interviewed them recently at the Huffington Post, where I learned that they’ve been reprinting male lover classics and Gothic and horror books since 2005. I immediately went to their website and was startled at the number of books that they’ve resurrected, and the obvious care and diligence that went into those books’ recovery. I’ve since chatted up one of the publishers, James Jenkins (his partner in books and marriage, Ryan Cagle, handles the horror side of the business), to learn more about some of th
Visibility. It’s one of the most pivotal needs of the queer community. To be understood, to be accepted, the LGBTQIA+ community needs first to be seen. This has meant that centuries of authors writing about the experiences, love, and pain of the gender non-conforming community have been crucial in making progress towards a radical acceptance.
From the delicate art create of the semi-autobiographical novel — a life story veiled behind fictional names and twists — to the roar of poetry to a deep dive into the history that has too often been erased and purged, gay literature has helped to challenge, shift, and shape generations of readers.
As a pansexual, demisexual cis woman on my way into another Pride Month, researching and crafting this list was a singular happiness. I have many books to lay on hold at my local library. Many stories to encounter. Many histories to educate myself on.
Because gay texts help to increase our awareness to the “outside” world, but they also increase internal visibility and acknowledgment. Today, transphobia is rampant among the queer community, and there are still plenty of issues (biphobia, acephobia), histories, and experiences that the best-educated gender non-conforming pers
What are the "gay novels of the 1940s and 1950s"?
astro1
I was reading the wiki on Gore Vidal’s novel “The City and the Pillar” and at the end this comment was noted.
The City and the Pillar sparked a public scandal, including notoriety and criticism, not only since it was released at a time when homosexuality was commonly considered immoral, but also because it was the first book by an acknowledged American author to portray overt homosexuality as a natural behavior.[3] The controversial reception began before the novel hit bookshelves. Prior to its even being published, an editor at EP Dutton said to Vidal, “You will never be forgiven for this book. Twenty years from now you will still be attacked for it.”[5] Looking back in retrospect from 2009, it is considered by Ian Young to be “perhaps the most notorious of the gay novels of the 1940s and 1950s.”[7]
What are these “gay novels”?
Horatio_Hellpop2
Naked Lunch and Gentlemen’s Agreement come to mind.
Exapno_Mapcase3
The New York Times recent obituary of Tereska Torres, author of Women’s Barracks, provides a fascinating look at the period.
SantaMan4
I started to look up “Well
(A time capsule of lgbtq+ opinion, from the behind 1990s)
The Publishing Triangle complied a selection of the 100 best lesbian and gay novels in the late 1990s. Its purpose was to broaden the appreciation of lesbian and gay literature and to promote discussion among all readers gay and straight.
The Triangle’s 100 Best
The judges who compiled this list were the writers Dorothy Allison, David Bergman, Christopher Bram, Michael Bronski, Samuel Delany, Lillian Faderman, Anthony Heilbut, M.E. Kerr, Jenifer Levin, John Loughery, Jaime Manrique, Mariana Romo-Carmona, Sarah Schulman, and Barbara Smith.
1. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
2. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
3. Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet
4. Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust
5. The Immoralist by Andre Gide
6. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
7. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
8. Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig
9. The Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
10. Zami by Audré Lorde
11. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
12. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
13. Billy Budd by Herman Melville
14. A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White
15. Dancer from the Dance by A