Pulp Friction: Uncovering the Golden Age of Gay Male Pulps

by Michael Bronski (Editor)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466859739
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Publication date:	12/10/2013
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	476 KB

About the Author

Michael Bronski is the author of Culture Clash: The Making of Gay Sensibility and The Pleasure Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the Struggle for Gay Freedom. He has edited and contributed to many anthologies, has had essays published throughout the world, and teaches and lectures widely. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

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

qlGuild 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

Editorial Reviews

Noting research that included reading "just over 225 novels," cultural critic Bronski (The Pleasure Principle) delightfully chronicles gay pulp novels from their emergence in the late 1940s through the post-Stonewall era in this expansive, exhaustively researched amalgam of fiction and gay history. In the earliest novels, homosexual characters were often drawn as angst-ridden men living hideaway lives. These mild tales gave way to the more outrageous and sexually intrepid plot lines of the 1950s and early '60s as gay male pulps gained momentum-typical is a locker-room fantasy scene from Jay Little's Maybe-Tomorrow. As the 1960s progressed, fiction grew bolder in form and content. Richard Amory's lush The Song of the Loon was a landmark title, its literary aspirations plain, while other titles of the era-racy fictions like Jack Love's Gay Whore, a melodrama set on Fire Island, and the pseudonymous Memoirs of Jeff X-were willing to settle for being "extraordinarily profitable." The gay revolution unleashed by the Stonewall riots is boldly evident in excerpts by Marcus Miller (from Gay Revolution), and a selection from Bruce Benderson's 1975 erotic potboiler, Kyle. Prefacing each section with thoughtful background on the period, Bronski then steps back to let the generous novel excerpts speak for themselves. Bronski has searched thoroughly and thought-provokingly, and this book should pop up on required reading lists for gay studies courses (the extensive appendix is invaluable). This is obviously a labor of love, and an absolute must for gay historians and those interested in stimulating gay fiction from years gone by. (Jan.) Forecast: Dual marketing to history buffs and fiction readers should double this title's chances. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

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 Water

“Out of the shadows, into the sheets! Between the covers of gay pulp fiction, Michael Bronski finds forgotten treasures, presenting juicy excerpts and his own wise insights into this neglected bit of literary history.” —Jonathan Ned Katz, author of Love Stories: Sex Between Men Before Homosexuality and Gay American History

“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

“Noting research that included reading 'just over 225 novels,' cultural critic Bronski (The Pleasure Principle) delightfully chronicles gay pulp novels from their emergence in the late 1940s through the post-Stonewall era in this expansive, exhaustively researched amalgam of fiction and gay history. In the earliest novels, homosexual characters were often drawn as angst-ridden men living hideaway lives. These mild tales gave way to the more outrageous and sexually intrepid plot lines of the 1950s and early '60s as gay male pulps gained momentum—typical is a locker-room fantasy scene from Jay Little's Maybe—Tomorrow. As the 1960s progressed, fiction grew bolder in form and content. Richard Amory's lush The Song of the Loon was a landmark title, its literary aspirations plain, while other titles of the era—racy fictions like Jack Love's Gay Whore, a melodrama set on Fire Island, and the pseudonymous Memoirs of Jeff X—were willing to settle for being 'extraordinarily profitable.' The gay revolution unleashed by the Stonewall riots is boldly evident in excerpts by Marcus Miller (from Gay Revolution), and a selection from Bruce Benderson's 1975 erotic potboiler, Kyle. Prefacing each section with thoughtful background on the period, Bronski then steps back to let the generous novel excerpts speak for themselves. Bronski has searched thoroughly and thought-provokingly, and this book should pop up on required reading lists for gay studies courses (the extensive appendix is invaluable). This is obviously a labor of love, and an absolute must for gay historians and those interested in stimulating gay fiction from years gone by.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Out of the shadows, into the sheets! Between the covers of gay pulp fiction, Michael Bronski finds forgotten treasures, presenting juicy excerpts and his own wise insights into this neglected bit of literary history.

author of Love Stories: Sex Between Men Before Jonathan Ned Katz

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.

author of Father of Frankenstein and The Notorious Christopher Bram