A little simplistic, but for ’59….(“Frank sex talk”? My grandmother wrote that one.)Ĩ. Ben Travis - 'The Strange Ones' (nothing on db)įrank sex talk.

(and oh yeah, she also wrote the kid's book 'Shoebag')ħ. Marijane Meaker (Vin Packer) - 'Whisper His Sin' Michael De Forrest - 'The Gay Year' (again, nada on database) Confusing writing.Īctually Clarence Lewis Miller. At least he waits until boy's of-age before going for it. James Barr - “Spur Piece” from the collection 'Derricks' (can't find in the database)Īuthor of 'Quatrefoil'. Appealing to the str8-idealizing gay man. Absolutely one I’ll seek out.īoldly sexy affectionate. something like a more honest The Lost Weekend with some slice-of-life observations of gay culture. I reproduced them here in their cryptic entirety:

I knew I would take my time reading this so I made some notes on bookmarks, but I was very conscious of the lack of space so I’m not sure how helpful they are. So much so that I wish it could have been cost-effective to include color plates of them in the book. Most of the books haven’t seen print since their first run 40+ years ago and the authors themselves were mostly writing under pseudonyms.Īnother small complaint - 'Pulp Friction’s cover nails the moody tension and high cheese that can be found in pulp covers. Bronksi might have kept things light because often there is very little information about these authors. He tends to keep things brief, which arguably allows the selected excerpts to speak for themselves, but I often felt like I wanted more input from him, because that he did his homework is very clear. If the book has a weakness its that Bronski doesn’t give as much analysis of the books and authors he covers as I’d like. For further reading (and as a quick reference) he includes an annotated appendix of American gay fiction from 1940-1969. He gives a good overview of gay fiction in America leading up to his focus of the 1950-1969 “Golden Age” (no scare intended), mentioning big names such as Carson McCullers, Charles Jackson, and Truman Capote, among others, but wisely sticks to the obscure and hard-to-find works to cover in-depth. Michael Bronski argues that, while postwar America straitened its laces and filed into regimented suburbs, fiction with gay themes and subjects became ever-more prominent, first in literary circles and, audience proven, in the burgeoning pulp market. But, be honest, could you resist this cover if you found It on the shelf instead of that copy of 'Agnes Grey'? I first heard of this book through the internets, but I never expected to have it turn up in my local used bookstore.

A Different Drum by Chris Davidson