Lost Gay Novels
 Cover of the book. | |
| Author | Anthony Slide |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Psychology Press |
Publication date | 2003 |
| Pages | 204 |
| ISBN | 978-1-56-023414-2 |
Lost Gay Novels is a 2003 reference guide written by Anthony Slide that provides commentary on 50 works of gay literature published between 1900 and 1950 that Slide found to be not well-known by late 20th and early 21st-century audiences.[1][2]
Summary
Lost Gay Novels provides plot summaries and reviews of 50 novels, organized alphabetically by the authors' last names. The book does not comprehensively cover gay literature from the time period, nor was it designed to be a recommended reading list, but rather covers books with different outlooks on homosexuality and gay issues and the context of their times.[3][4] Most of the novels included are American, though a few are from Europe.[3] The book also provides a discussion on the characters, and presents authors who are not normally associated with homosexuality.[4][5]
Importance
Lost Gay Novels is notable for documenting the gay literature subculture that was active prior to the Stonewall riots. The novels discussed in the book have historically been both ignored by researchers and overshadowed by the history of gay pulp fiction and erotica.[2] Slide mentions that in the 1940s and 1950s, gay literature was published and given publicity, likely due to gay editors leveraging their influence in the publishing world. Widespread realization that this "Homintern" was happening was partly the influence for homosexual panic.[6]
This book inspired a collection that is now in the Cushing Library at Texas A&M University.[7][8]
References
- ^ Slide, Anthony (2003). Lost Gay Novels. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-56-023414-2.
- ^ a b Bronski, Michael (October 2003). "Still Smoldering". Guide. 23 (10): 12. ISSN 1047-8906. (subscription required)
- ^ a b Berrong, Richard M. (January–February 2004). "Lost Gay Novels: Reference Guide to Fifty Works from the First Half of the 20th Century". Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. 11 (1): 47. ISSN 1532-1118. (subscription required)
- ^ a b "Lost Gay Novels: A Reference Guide to Fifty Works from the First Half of the Twentieth Century (Paperback)". Routledge. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- ^ "Books - Gay and Lesbian Literature". LibGuides at Berry College. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- ^ Harker, Jaime (2010). "Review: "Look Baby, I Know You": Gay Fiction and the Cold War Era". American Literary History. 22 (1): 191–206. doi:10.1093/alh/ajp058. JSTOR 20638648. S2CID 146476337.
- ^ Mock, Gracie (April 1, 2015). "Cushing unveils gay literature collection". The Battalion.
- ^ Rodriguez, Heather (July 6, 2017). "Don Kelly Collection Fellowship Provides Platform To Study LGBT History". Texas A&M Today.
Further reading
- Cardamone, Tom, ed. (2010). The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered. Haiduk Press. ISBN 978-0-9714686-3-4.
- Gunn, Drewey Wayne (January 14, 2016). Gay American Novels, 1870-1970: A Reader's Guide. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786499052.
- Passet, Joanne E. (2012). "Hidden in Plain Sight: Gay and Lesbian Books in Midwestern Public Libraries, 1900–1969" (PDF). Library Trends. 60 (4): 749–764. doi:10.1353/lib.2012.0010. S2CID 30107318.