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.
"I read through this book saying again and again, 'How did I miss this?' 'How did I manage not to know about this?'--a sign that Michael Bronski has done a necessary job and done it well. Rarely is a book so educational also such a delight. By leaving the hallowed precincts of the 'literary,' Bronski lends a continuity heretofore lacking in many of our pictures of the development of gay fiction from World War II on."
Samuel R. Delany, author of Times Square Red, Times Square Blue and The Motion of Light in
"A wonderful book, a sexy, funny, looney-tune work of social history that rewrites the recent past. It's a celebration of the poetry of pulp as well as the truth of pulp. I cannot remember the last time I learned so much while having so much fun."
Christopher Bram, author of Father of Frankenstein and The Notorious Dr. August
