23 R MORTIMER, LEE. Women Confidential. pbr Paperback Library 1961 nf MUNBOE, VAL. After Hours. Beacon 1961. minor scV. Dutton 1960, R MURRAY, WILLIAM The Self-Starting Wheel, pbr Avon 1961. (m) MURDOCH, IRIS. A Severed Head. Viking 1961. (m) minor. "Could almost be a spoof on morals, so light is her tone; but there is a brooding hint of violence that makes one gasp. The 17 ++ MURDOCH, IRIS. An Unofficial Rose. Viking, 1962, Well, it's finally happened; one of the finer writers of the day has presented a fairly major lesbian portrait but where. last year's splendid The Bell was sympathetic and almost tender in tone, this one is far from being either, The lesbian, Emma Sands, is an elderly horror who keeps one young companion after another in close, apron-string dom- ination, forces them to entertain their male admirers in what amounts to a menage a trois, with an overlay of horrible charm. It could be a macabre, fun-house portrait of a Colette novel; deftly drawn, satirical, sometimes horribly funny, but there is a bitter under-taste, book ends with Emma plotting the domination of another young girl after the current one has escaped with the son of one of Emma's own old lovers; noting with satirical satisfaction how her "girls" tolerate her for the hope of her money, though she has already planned to leave it to the old lover's grand-daughter -- a thoroughly nasty little brat who has broken up her mother's marriage, then her remarriage. There is also a nice, oblique por- trait of an inoffensive, pleasant male homosexual suffer- ing torments of love and jealousy over an unaware boy of fourteen, who thinks he is a nice old thing. Highly recommended --if you like a dash of bitters. MYKLE, AGNAR. Lasso Round the Moon, (Trans. Maurice Michael). Norwegian edition 1954, E. P. Dutton 1960, pbr Dell 1961. (m) minor, sympathetic; about four pages in a long novel of a young Scandinavian composer. NEWLAND, N.M. The Nylon Lovers. Chariot Books 1961. SCV. NEWMANN, ROBERT. Passion; Six Literary Marriages. Harcourt, 1932. Six fictionalized accounts of the married lives of the literary great, done very seriously; among them the account of August Strindberg's marriage to a lesbian. O HARA, JOHN, "Mrs Stratton of Oak Knoll" and "The Sharks" ss in Assembly, N. Y. Random House, 1961. (m) major --- 244 + ONSTOTT, KYLE, and Horner, Lance; The Tattooed Rood. Richmond, Denlinger, 1960, pbr Crest 1961. (m) Long historical novel. OTIS, HARRY. Camel's Farewell. Pan-Graphic, 1961. (m+L). Group of travel sketches; writing amateurish, ribald in spots, good fun of their kind. PERUTZ, KATHRIN. The Garden. Atheneum, 1962, A good first novel (the author is only 22) laid in a girl's school. The tone of the first half of the book is lesbian and fairly ardent. "Major enough to be read by most, and light enough to be forgotten, " PEYREFITTE, ROGER. The Exile of Capri. London, Secker and Warburg. 1961 (m) major, by the author of the classic "Special Friendships. 17 R PHELPS, ROGER. Heroes and Orators pbr tct Three's a Crowd Hillman Books, 1961. (Specially recommended). PRIEST, J. C. Forbidden. Woodford Press 1952, pbr Beacon nd. Harmless risque. R PROKOSCH, FREDRIC. A Ballad of Love. pbr Bantam 1961. RADER, PAUL. The Fraud. Viking 1961. (m) minor. RAE, JOHN. The Custard Boys. Farrar 1961. (m) major; English schoolboys waiting to be old enough to go to war (World War II). RAND, LOU. The Gay Detective. Saber Books pbo, 1961. Funny mystery, laid in the "swishy section of San Fran- cisco night clubs. Very good of kind, a riot. R REARDON, WILLIAM R. The Big Smear. pbr Avon 1961. RECHY, JOHN. "A Quarter Ahead. " Evergreen Review #2319, July- August 1961. Excerpt from unpublished novel, dealing with the adventures of two young male prostitutes. by a neglected young writer. Good, REYNOLDS, MACK. A Kiss Before Loving. Monarch, 1961. (m) minor in evening waster by competent ex-pulp writer. RICE, ELMER. Imperial City. London, Victor Gollancz, 1937 N. Y. Coward-McCann 1937. Panoramic novel which attempts to touch on every facet of human experience; many portrayals of lesbian and homosexual relationships included. Excellent in the style of the thirties, overwritten for today's tastes. --- SPECIAL FEATURE 1962 FOREIGN LESBIANA. gene damon 33 This special list of titles is presented for students and research workers. These titles are available only in foreign lan- guages: this does not purport to be a complete list -- merely a compilation of those Continental works known to the editors. Key: g. - German; f. French, We could use any further contributions or additions to this list, particularly works in Spanish, Italian or Portuguese. **** Arnim, Elisabeth von: Die Günderode, Berlin, Propylaenverlag, 1920 - g Barbey D'Aurevilly, Jules: Les diaboliques; Paris, Dentu, 1874 - f. Barney, Natalie Clifford: Actes et entr'actes, Paris, Sensot, 1909- f. ----: Adventures de l'esprit, Paris, Emile-Paul, 1929 - f. Borys, Daniel: Carlotta Noll, Paris, Albin Michel, 1905 - f. Charles-Etienne: La bouche fardee, Paris, Editions Curio, 1926 - f. ---: Les désexuées, Paris, Editions Curio, 1924 f. & Albert Nortal: Inassouvie, Paris, ditions Curio, 1927 - f. & Albert Nortal: Notre dame de Lesbos, Paris, Librarie des Curiosites Litteraires, 1924- f. Choiseul-Meuse, Félicité de: Julie, ou j'ai sauvé ma rosa; Privately Printed, 1882 - f. Colette, Sidonie Gabrielle: Minne, Paris, P. Ollendorf, 1904 - f. ----: Les egarements de Minne, Paris, P. Ollendorf, 1905 - f. ----: Femme Cachee, Paris, Flammanion, 1924 f. J.J. 1883 - f. Cuisin, P.: Clémentine, orpheline et androgyne, Bruxelles, Gay, Dauthendey, Elisabeth: Vom neuen Weib und seiner Liebe, Edition 3, Berlin, Schuster & Löffler, 1903g Dehmel, Richard: Weib und Welt in "Gesammelte Werke", Berlin, Fischer, 1913 - 8. Des Vignons, Max: Plaisirs troublants, Paris, Librairie Artistige, Deval, Jacques: Tigrane, Paris, Julliard, 1960 f. Dubut, de LaForest, J.J.: La femme d'affaires, Paris, Dentu, 1890 - f. ----: Mlle. Tantale, Paris, Dupont, 1897 - f. n.d. - f. --- 34 Lesbiana in Foreign Languages continued Duc, Aimée: sind es Frauen?, Berlin, Echstein, 1903 - . Eichhorn, Maria: Fraulein Don Juan, n.p., n.d. (Berlin?) - g. Eulenberg, Herbert: Der Maler Rayski, in "Casanovas letztes Abenteuer", Dresden, Reissner, 1928 - g. Feydeau, Ernest: La comtesse de Chalis, Paris, Michel Levy, 1871 - f. Francillon, Clarisse: La lettre, Paris, Pierre Horay, 1958 - f. rauman, Luz: Weiberbeute, Budapest, Schneider, 1906 - g. onnet, Hubert: Agnes, Paris, Plon, 1959 - f. Gabrielli, 1920-22 - g ourmont, Remy de: Le songe d'une femme, Paris, Mercure de France-1899. Günderode, Karoline: Gesammelte Werke, 2v., Berlin, Goldschmidt- ille, Peter; Gesammelte Werke, 2v., Berlin, Schuster & Loffler, 1904-g. Höchstetter, Sophie: Selbstanziege, Die letzte Flamme, Jena, Landhausverlag, 1917 - g. Ira, Iris: Lesbos, Gedichte, Privately printed, 1930 - g. Janitschek, Maria: Neue Erziehung und alte Moral, in "Die Neue Eva", Leipzig, Seeman, 1903 g. Kaltneker, Hans: Die Schwester: ein Mysterium, Berlin, Zsolnay, 1924-g. Lamartine, A. M. L.: Regina, in "Nouvelles confidences", Paris, Levy, 1855 f. Latouche, Henri de: Fragoletta, Paris, Lavasseur, 1829, 2v. - f. LaVaudere, Jane: Les demi-sexes, in "Le Figaro", Paris, 1896 - f. Liebetreu, O: Urningsliebe, Leipzig, Fischer, 1905 - g. Madeleine, Marie: Auf kypros, Berlin, Vita, n.d. - g. Magendie, Mauroce: L'Astree D'Honore d'Urfe, Paris, Societe Francaise d'Editions Litteraires, 1929 - f. Maindron, Maurice: Saint-Cendre, Paris, n.p., 1898 - f. Mann, Heinrich: Die Gottinen: Venus, Berlin, Zsolnay, 1925 - g. Marigny, Simone: Presence, Paris, Julliard, 1955 - f. Mayeur de St. Paul?: Confessions d'une jeune fille, London, n.p., 1784 Meebold, Alfred: Dr. Erna Redens Thorheit und Erkenntnis, in "Allerhand Volk", Berlin, Vita, 1900 - g. Mendes, Catulle: Méphistophéla, Paris, Dentu, 1890 - f. Moller, O.W.: Wer kann dafür?, Leipzig, Spohr, 1901 - g. Montfort, Charles: Le jounal d'une saphiste, Paris, Offenstadt, 1902-f. --- Lesbiana in Foreign Languages continued 35 - g. Muhsam, Frich: Die Psychologie der Erbiante, Zurich, Schmidt, 1905 -g. Niemann, August: Zwei Frauen, Dresden, Pierson, 1901 Peladan, Josephin: La gynandre, Paris, Dentu, 1891 - f. f. ----: La vertu suprême, Paris, Flammarion, 1900 - Typhonia, Journal drine verge protestante, Paris, Dentu, 1892-f. Peyrefitte, Roger: Jeunes Proies, Paris, Flammarion, 1956 - f. Pougy, Liane de: Idylle saphique, Paris, Librairie de la Plume, 1901-f. Reuss, Paule: Le genie de l'amour, Paris, Oeuvres Representatives, - g. 1935 - f. Reuter, Gabriele: Aus guter Familie, Berlin, n.p., 1897 Rigal, Henry: Sur la mode saphique, Paris, Mercure de France, 1902-f. Roland-Manuel, Suzanne: La trille du diable, Paris, Deux Rives, 1946-f. Ruling, Theodor: Ratzelhaft, in "Welcher unter Euch ohne Sunde ist", Leipzig, Spohr, 1906 - g. Samain, Albert: Aux flancs du vase, S.S. Les Vierges au crepuscule, Paris, n.p., 1901 - f. Schwabe, Toni: Komm kuhle Nacht, Munchen, Miller, 1908 - 8. Seydlitz, R. von: Pierre's Ehe: psychologisches problem, Munchen, Schupp, n.d. g. Sinowjewa, Annibal: Dreiund dressig Scheusale, St. Petersburg, 1907-g. Stadler, Ernst: Freundinnen, in lyrisches Spiel, Magazin fur. Literatur, Feb., 1904 - g. Villebon, Dominique: Les rivages interdits, Paris, Flammarion, 1957-f. Vivien, Renée: Poésies complètes de Renée Vivien, v.1, 1901-1903; v.2, 1904-1909; entire work pertinent. Paris, Librairie Ae phonse Lemerre, n.d. - f. Wagner, Ernst: Isidora, in "Sammtliche Schriften", Leipzig, Fleischer, 1828,v.5 -g. Wassermann, Jacob: Geschichte der junge Renate Fuchs, Berlin, Wedekind, Frank: Erdgeist, in "Gesammelte Werke", v.3, Munchen, Fischer, 1930 - g. Miller, 1919 - g. ----: Mine-haha, Munchen, Langen, 1905 - g. ---: Franziska, Munchen, Miller, 1913 - g. --- 36 variant films Reviewed by Ted White and Gene Damon THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (Television show) July 30, 1961; a story called "The Sniper", starring Virginia Christine as Miss Brant. A sniper has shot and killed or wounded six pretty young girls, all while in the company of boys, It's a real surprise to discover that the sniper is a woman --Miss Brant who owns a coffee joint, is very possessive about young girls, and is "punishing them" for their behavior with boys. Unusual for TV. (GD) CARRY ON NURSE - English, 1960 CARRY ON CONSTABLE --English, 1961 CARRY ON SERGEANT --English 1960. Poor humor (tripe type) with many of the gags revolving around nudity, transvestism or obvious male homosexuality. (MZB) CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF -American - 1957. Directed by Richard Brooks. Hollywood blunted the edge of the Tennesee Williams play, but homosexuality remains the only explanation for the behavior of the male lead in the film version. (TW) COME DANCE WITH ME (Voulez-vous Danzer Avec Moi) French, 1960. Starring Brigitte Bardot. There is a scene toward the end in which a femme impersonator is shown doing his act in a night-club; no other references in film. LA DOLCE VITA - Italian, script by Federico Fellini. No review available but contains "obvious overt lesbianism and male homosexuality". The movie has had rave reviews but is not shown over wide areas of the country. (GD) LOSS OF INNOCENCE - American, 1961. Based on Rumer Godden's "The Greengage Summer." Lesbian emphasis very minor. (GD) THE PIT OF LONELINESS. French, 1954. Romantic lesbian under- tones in a girl's school. This book was based on "Olivia" (by Dorothy Bussy) and the screenplay was written by Collatte Audrey. "The headmistresses are lovers, and intrigue runs rife through the other teachers and the students....the major theme is lesbianism, but handled quietly." (GD, TW) THE PURPLE NOON. French (English subtitles) written by Rene Clement, based on Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley. Male homosexual emphasis subtle, but clear throughout. (GD) --- 37 SUPPLEMENT: VARIANT FILM REVIEWS, continued REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. American, 1955. Directed by Nick Ray. The relationship of the character "Plato", (Sal Mineo) to the other characters implies latent homosexuality throughout film until tag near end about his fantasizing Jim (James Dean) and Judy (Natalie Wood) as his parents. (TW) ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS -Italian, 1961. (m) (GD). SOME LIKE IT HOT - American, 1959. Directed by Billy Wilder. Major portion of film given over to the antics of Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis "in drag"; Lemmon's male suitor still expresses the wish to marry him after his true sex is revealed. (TW) THE SINGER NOT THE SONG - English - 1962. JArthur Rank production, screenplay by Nigel Balchin, starring Dirk Bogarde and John Mills. Based on the novel of the same name by Audrey Erskine Lindop, but the strange thing is that the novel contains not the faintest implication of homosexuality, whereas in the movie it is quite implicit and unmistakable. Mills is a priest sent to a Mexican town terrorized by badman Bogarde; the two come to like and respect each other, while for the character played by Bogarde it is obviously more than that; at one point when the heroine (Mylene Demongeot) confesses her love for the priest, he says "You love a man you can never have" and in a bitter undertone "I know what that is"; a drunken fellow-bandit babbles to him "You love this man... and there are many other thrown-away lines which simply do not admit of any other interpretation. At the end they literally die in each other's arms. (MZB) SEVEN WAYS FROM SUNDOWN - American ??? - Reported to us by. two separate sources: as having "definite homosexual overtones". The editor took her kids to this one and feels itta stretching a point. Simple "adult" Western about a kid Ranger (Audie Murphy) sent out to rope in a likable outlaw! (Barry Fitzgerald). The young lawman learns to admire and like the outlaw but finally is forced to shoot him and kneels by his dead body in tears at the fadeout, ignoring the girl. Hero worship, if anything. (BRL) STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE - American 1952-3. The original play script had a background of homosexuality which was com- pletely eliminated from the movie; however "knowledge of the background adds to the appreciation of the film. " STRANGERS ON A TRAIN American, 1951. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; based on Patricia Highsmith's novel reviewed here last year. Character of murderer is presented as latent homosexual woman-hater. (TW) f --- 38 SUPPLEMENT: VARIANT FILM REVIEWS continued SPARTACUS American 1960. The book, reviewed last year, was major male-homosexual, of course. Very little remains, in the film version; however many sexual symbolisms abound in this "family" picture. The leading character Sparta- cus, until midway in picture when he engages in sex play with Gene Simmons, has had no heterosexual experience and is considered male-inclined by his captors and fellow- slaves; the character played by Tony Curtis, irrelevant to plot and hastily abandoned, is introduced obviously as a young lover for character played by Laurence Olivier. (TW) THE THIRD SEX - German 1958, released U.S. 1959, called "Bewildered" in some parts of this country. Story of a young initiate in a "boy's club" over-ruled by male sexo-sadist. Scenes include erotic wrestling, female impersonator performing ab hangout where half the audience is in drag, and the boy's refusal of his near- nude art model when she attempts a seduction. (TW) THIRST (Torst) -Sweden, 1949. Directed by Ingmar Bergman; released in US as exploitation film, THREE STRANGE LOVES, prior to Bergman's popularity in this country. Plot entangles abortion, suicide and lesbianism. THE STRANGE ONE. American, 1959. Screenplay by Calder Willingham from her novel END AS A MAN. Directed by Jack Garfein. The strong (m) homosexual sub-theme of the book has been muted, but a minor character gives adoring voice to it as, Greek-chorus-like, he writes "stories" about his hero and would-be lover which catalogue the protagonist's transgressions... TW A TASTE OF HONEY English, 1961. Major (m) played honestly in a good adaptation of Shelagh Delaney's play. TIME OF DESIRE. Swedish, released in U. S. 1958, concerning a quasi-lesbian attachment between two beautiful young sisters, given covert approval by their wealthy, land- owning, tom-catting father. One early scene shows the sisters swimming together in the nude while a shocked villager peeps on. His stories of the two leads the local make-out artist to seduce one of the two, but when she becomes pregnant she returns to her sister and father; the film ends, happy-sunset-like, with the two sisters together again, the baby in their arms, and the father pleased with the final outcome. In many respects a delightfully strange movie. (TW) A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE - American 1962. Based on the book by Nelson Algren---but there is a major lesbian character in the film who does not appear in the book. --- SUPPLEMENT: POETRY variant & lesbianverse 39 Barney, Natalie Clifford: Poems and Poemes: Autres Alliances N.Y., George H. Doran Co.; Paris, Emile-Paul freres; 1920. A half-English, half-French folio of poetry, all on Lesbian themes. Very specific. Issued in a limited edition of 680 copies, now rare to the point of being nearly nonexistent. This folio is mentioned in Foster's text, but not listed in the bibliography as she was unable to find it. Cavafy, Constantine P.: The Complete Poems of... Harcourt Brace, 1961 Major Male H by a master poet. Hall, Radclyffe: Twixt Earth and Stars, 1906; Sheaf of Verses, 1905 Correction: Rather than Chapman and Hall, the publisher of these two volumes should be: London, John Edward Bumpus, LTD. Riley, Harold: A Cretan Adventure San Francisco, Pan Graphic Press, 1961 Male H оа VARIANT FILMS: concluded. - A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE - American (?) 1961 (?). Neither editor saw this film, but a strong homosexual theme is reported; the hero is suspected of being homosexual, and the uncle of the heroine attempts to inveigle him into revealing him- self by making advances; one scene includes "passionate kissing" between the men. THE WARRIOR QUEEN - Italian - 1962. An imported "epic" of the type appropriately dubbed "chariot opera", and starring Tina-Louise. The story revolves around Sappho of Lesbos and her love for a Greek rebel; one of the temple priest- esses is pretty obviously in love with her, but the whole thing is very decorously handled. THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. American 1962. This film is in a class by itself, being the first wholly frank treatment of a lesbian theme, yet filmed with the delicacy and restraint of a high-quality British movie, and without any Hollywoodized cliches. Starring Shirley Maclaine and Audrey Hepburn as the two schoolteachers whose lives are destroyed by the lies of a vicious preadolescent, it marks the end of one era and, perhaps, the beginning of another in the field of the variant film. --- 40 EDITORIAL REMARKS, CONTINUED of books and. paperbacks, we would have to be a hundred-headed Hydra with no other occupation whatever. So please--when you come across any of this information, please pass it on to us, to be shared with our readers. Otherwise the word "Complete" in the title of these Checklists will become nothing but a rather ironic joke. Editorial opinions will be found, largely, in the reviews; we wish to direct your attention particularly to the reviews of books by Paula Christian, Randy Salem, and May Sarton. By and large, this was a good year for the Checklist readers, with a new major novel by Iris Murdoch, the discovery of some overlooked treasures, and the particularly fine books by May Sarton, Virginia McManus and Shirley Verel which were "Editor's Choice" this year. Happy reading, everybody UNLISTED SPECIAL FEATURE: FOR SERIOUS COLLECTORS ONLY ON HAND; BOOKS 1. The finest book about the adolescent male, Edgar Freisenberg's THE VANISHING ADOLESCENT (Boston, Beacon Press, 1959; Dell Laurel qpbr, 50%, 1961) goes rather thoroughly into the subject of homo- eroticism in the adolescent, in a book which no educător or social worker, parent or interested party should be without. Freisenberg also has some harsh words to say about the well-intentioned "guid- ance worker" in schools, and the not so well-intentioned youth worker out of schools, who mauls adolescent emotions in the name of "adjustment to society"---and more than hints that a lot of the persecution of adolescents by adult males is due to latent homo- sexuality. This is MUST reading for everyone who is not a disciple of "adjustment for everybody. 11 R. E. L. Masters, in his mis-named THE HOMOSEXUAL REVOLUTION (Julian Press, 1962) is the victim of his own publicity. The jacket description of his book gives the impression that homosexuals are on the point of banding together in some vast mass movement to overthrow society; but the book itself is a sober, thoughtful, and at times admirably ironic account of the public and private lives of homosexuals-at-large, with a history of the homosexual organiz- ations and the homosexual press. Dr. Masters writes well, and re- tains an excellent perspective from (and toward) his subject; the book, however, seems rather lightweight for the $5.95 price. It would go better as a paperback, but probably isn't sexsational enough to attract a truly mass audience. HOMOSEXUALITY: A Psychoanalytic Study of Male Homosexuals, (Basic Books, New York, $8.50) is definitely not for the casual reader who likes a light popular approach to his subject, with lots of exciting case histories and spicy details. It is written for counselors, social workers, clinicians, and psychologists; and for them, it is indispensable. Written under a grant from the National Foundation for Mental Health, it is a controlled study of homosexuals and heterosexuals, taking in such things as the prehomosexual child, the adolescent homosexual, mental illness, --- THE LADDER. ** RELATED PUBLICATIONS ** 41 Official Magazine of the Daughters of Bilitis, 1232 Market Street, Suite 108, San Francisco 2, California. For the dissemination of information by, for, and about the lesbian. Subscriptions $5.00 a year, Articles by, and about writers of lesbiana, odd items about lesbians past and present, commentary on current books and events, amateur fiction, a good form-type letter column. THE MATTACHINE REVIEW and THE DORIAN QUARTERLY are published by the Mattachine Society, 693 Mission Street, San Francisco 5, California, The Review, at $5.00 a year, is perhaps the most society-minded of the magazines which comprise the homosexual press; the Quarterly, $2,50 a year, deals, mostly with announcements and advertisements for new books and accounts of the battle against censorship on all fronts. WINSTON BOOK SERVICE, 250 Fulton, Hampstead, New York, publishes invaluable monthly lists with full and excellent reviews of the newest titles; if you want to keep up with the new books, as they come out, this is indispensable. could be called a gay Book-of-the-Month Club. A POINTS NORTHE, run by James Neill Northe, 117 South Hudson, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, specializes in searching for the rare and the unusual. Note the new address! THE TENTH MUSE, under the proprietorship of Julia Newman, Box 381, Cooper Station, New York City, deals in both new and used books. That's a new address, too! It THE READER'S PARADISE BOOKSHOP, 1424 Pine Street, Abilene, Texas, specializes mostly in science fiction, but also contains more used paperbacks than the editor has ever seen in one place; a stamped self-addressed envelope sent to the proprietor will probably get you a price quotation on that old paperback you missed on the news-stand last year. EDITORIAL REMARKS, CONCLUDED. or its absence, and family and sociological factors, all with a thoroughness never yet equalled. A scientific and clinical study, this is free of bias pro or con. The interested layman might better read this book than some of the lighter expose-sensational ones, but he probably couldn't get through it; your editor, with a not inconsiderable background in psychology, counseling and guidance work, found it infernally heavy going. Just the same, it would be a good book to buy, to read and to study; and if you find it's too hard to read, donate it to your doctor or local mental health clinic; they probably couldn't afford it, and they really need it for their permanent collection. MZB --- + RIVETTE, MARC. The Incident. World 1957, pbr Signet 1959. 25 (m); sea story, 16 men on two lifeboats. Substantial subplot concerns interplay between one of the major char- acters and a homosexual among the men. Good, subtle, convincing. ROBBINS, HAROLD. The Carpetbaggers. Simon & Schuster 1961, pbr Pocket Books 1962 (95). A very major novel by one of the best hard-boiled writers of the last few decades, dealing with the giants of industry and the motion-picture world. About half of the long (700 page) novel deals with the various love affairs of the heroine, Rina Marlowe, who spends a lifetime in trying to run away from her lesbian- ism. Recommended --in fact, not to be missed. R ROBINSON, HENRY MORTON. Water of Life. pbr Pocket Books 1961 ROEBURT JOHN. The Climate of Hell. pbr tct The Long Nightmare. Crest 1958. (m) Excellent thriller-mystery; a man impersonating the missing heir to a fortune discovers that his original may have been homosexual, which adds to the tightrope tension. A twister in the tail of this one. ROSS, BARNABY. Quintan Chivas. Simon & Schuster, 1961. (m) Street wanton, boy, befriended by a very good and kind artist who is homosexual. ROTH, HOLLY. The Crimson in the Purple. Simon & Schuster, 1956, pbr Pyramid 1958; mystery novel, laid against background of glamorous theatrical family. Exquisite (but poisonous) Terratta Hadden has lived openly with two men, actors, in a threesome design-for-living; after her murder both men are questioned by the police and one admits that the other man was being blackmailed on sodomy and morals charges, under threats of having his movie career destroyed. Subtle, unscandalous. RUSE, JIM. Tina. Kozy Books, pbo 1961. scv. RUSSO, PAUL. One Flesh. Midwood-Tower pbo 1961 This Yeilding Flesh. Midwood-Tower pbo. 1961. Corrupt Woman. Midwood Tower pbo, 1961. SALEM, RANDY. The Unfortunate Flesh. Midwood-Tower pbo 1960-61. Competently written%;B Jesse Cannon, aristocratic 6-foot daughter of an old Southern family, inherits not only her father's fortune but his (pregnant) mistress. Fast-moving, plenty of romantic adventure; literary value probably nil, but reader-identification strong and presentation sympathetic to the point of being propa- ganda. If you liked CHRIS you'll like it--'nuff said. SALEM RANDY. Tender Torment. Midwood-Tower 1960-61. --- 26 Better than average novel of a lesbian couple - one of whom wants nothing more than to be "happily married" while the other is still unsure whether she is fully committed even to lesbianism. Resolution approximates lesbian propaganda, but it interesting, convincing and well done. Randy Salem hangs by the typewriter keys just a shade below the best paperback originals - (Bannon, Taylor, Christian, Smith, Aldrich-Packer). Her special appeal lies in her ability to create the illusion of a homo- centred world, Everyone is gay (except the villains) and if not altogether happy, working hard toward happiness. Some of her characters are larger-than-life, overly mannish, picaresque women who stride through life with the "Beebo Brinker manner; not as genuine as their orig- inal, they are nevertheless romantic figures%; "the soap opera heroines of Lesbos. " ++Randy Salem is, in spite of the above remarks, a good, competent writer, adept at plotting and unraveling interesting complications. a touch more polish, she could rank among the top writers of the genre. (Gene Damon). +++ SARTON, MAY. A Small Room. With Norton, 1961. Editor's Choice for best of year. Perhaps the first major mainstream novel which fully integrates major, recognizably lesbian characters into a novel completely divorced from the "problems of homosexuality" per se, in a manner both uncontrived and convincing, Lucy Winter, the narrator, comes after a smashed romance to teach English at a highly selective woman's college in New England. She is immediately drawn into the "small room" of academic pre- occupations, and into the circle of Carryl Cope, a dedicated historian and famous woman educator. Carryl, clearly a lesbian, is a woman of absolute integrity and strong convictions, and a disciple of academic detachment. much of the novel pivots on the delicate balance which should be maintained between student and instructor, between academic detachment and personal involvement in a student's problems. An act of scandalous plagiarism by an honor student, Jane Seaman, causes a major upheaval in the faculty, with old alliances disrupted and severe. tests of individual integrity and conviction on every side. This is a book of unusual literary merit by any standard whatever, and should be one of the outstanding novels of the year if not the decade; in this special context it is probably the best novel by an American writer. Buy it to read --then buy another copy to encourage the publishers. SEELEY, E. S. One Hell of a Dame. Chariot Books 1961. SCV SCHIRMBECK, HEINRICH. If Thine Eye Offend Thee. Simon & (m) minor; hero in youth lived with The novel is excellent. Schuster 1961. homosexual relative. --- 27 R SCHIDDEL, EDMUND. Girl with the Golden Yo-Yo pbr Hillman, McFadden, 1961. R SEAGER, ALLEN. Death of Anger. pbr Avon, 1961 SELBY, JOHN. Madame. Dodd, Mead 1961. (m), major, sympathetic. SERRA, ART. Lament for a Virgin. Midwood Tower, 1961. SCV SHAW, ANDREW. SHAW, ANDREW. SHAW, ANDREW. Army Sin Girls Nightstand Books 1961. SCV Girls on the Prowl. Nightstand Books 1961. 1 The Twisted Ones, Nightstand Books 1961. Just as badly written and laden with turgid sex scenes as other books by this author, but the lesbian in this one is nicely presented, and conveniently gets the hero's wife out of the way so the hero can marry a 15 year old girl; ends with soap-opera plea for everyone living their own lives if they don't hurt anyone, a plea which everyone will second (but the cynical reader wonders what will happen when the new 15-year-old wife grows up a little and the hero discovers she is an elderly horror of 18 or 19--- like all these happily-ever-after stories founded on such grounds.) SHAW, ANDREW. Tramp. Nightstand, Books, 1961, scv. SHAW, ANDREW. Butch. Nightstand Books, 1961, scv. SHELDON, WALT. The Troubling of a Star Lippincott 1952, 1953. pbr Bantam 1956, others. (m); brief episode in a long war novel. SHERMAN, JOAN. Suzy. Beacon pbo 1960. SHERMAN, LOUISE. The Strange Three. Saber Books pbo 1959, scv. SHIFF NATHAN A. Diary of a Nymph Lyle Stuart 1961, pbr Lancer Books 1961. Nonfiction, one lesbian episode in the case history of a nomphomaniac; not very good. SIMPSON, LEW. Twisted Lust, Chariot Books 1961 (titlepage and copyright list author's name as Norman Adams). This would have been good if had been published in the 1930s. A lesbian actress, married to a nice man for professional reasons, undergoes various mental tortures and soap-opera adventures, secking "normalcy"; masochistic tragic ending-- the heroine ends up in a wheelchair and feels she is being justly punished for her sins. Bathetic. R SINCLAIR, JO (pseud of Ruth Seid) Wasteland, qpbr, Lancer, 1961. (excellent value; a classic) --- 28 + + SIMCOE, BEN. The Evil that Men Do. Signet pbo, 1961. Story of a divorcee with two almost-adult children; fifteen- year old Bobbie imagines herself a "butch" lesbian, which creates much parental hysteria. The presentation is con- vincing, sympathetic and seriously handled--prompting, in fact, that overworked adjective "sensitive", SKINNER, MIKE. So Wild. Midwood Tower, pbo, 1961. (m) minor in a novel of Greenwich Village. Evening waster. SKLAR, GEORGE. The Identity of Dr. Frazer. Knopf, 1961. minor, in a good novel by a good writer. (m) SMITH, LILLIAN. One Hour. Harcourt 1959, Signet pbr 1960. Major lesbian emphasis in a very good "hour of crisis" novel; a character, during the crisis, recalls her les- bian attachment in the past. SOLLERS, PHILLIPPE, A Strange Solitude. NY Grove 1961. qpbo; "arty and vague" novel of a girl who is clearly a narcissist lesbian; good of type, but the type has no very wide appeal. SOURIAN 4 PETER. The Best and Worst of Times. Doubleday 1961. (m) subtle, throughout book; one minor lesbian episode. SPARK, MURIEL. The Bachelors, Lippincott 1961. (m) minor, but VERY funny, in an otherwise perfectly straight novel--apt to be in local libraries. STEARN, JESS. The Sixth Man. Doubleday 1961, pbr Hillman McFadden Books, 1962. Excellent nonfiction picture of the homosexual today, by a modern successor of Donald Webster Cory --though without Cory's admitted pro-homosexual bias. + STEARN, JESS. The Wasted Years. Doubleday & Co, 1959, Hillman McFadden 1961, A strong, serious work on juvenile gangs and the problems of adolescence, including much space and thought given to juvenile homosexuals. (He makes, among other things, the startling accusation that virtually every youngster on narcotics has a homosexual problem, which raises an unanswered question about some of the alternatives society forces on the unadmitted homosexual.) STEIN, GERTRUDE. "Miss Furr and Miss Skeene" ss in Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein, NY Random House 1945. Tells of the end of the romance between the two ladies of the title Major, of course--but that same "who has the ball?" writing. --- *+STEVENSON, SYLVIA. Surplus. D. Appleton, 1924. 29 Surprise; major and important lesbian novel, overlooked by ALL previous listings Sally Wraith, 26. unmarried, former World-War I ambulance driver, English leggy outdoorsy type, meets Averill Kennion, For her, it is clearly love at first. sight; Averill also is clearly attracted, though within "normal" bounds, and within two chapters they are living together on a permanent, affectionate basis. Averil, near- ing thirty, and desiring children, decides to marry; Sally, eventually rebuilding her life (after a serious nervous breakdown) with a man of whom she is increasingly fond, sees Averil by chance, realizes she loves her too much to live with anyone else, and goes on her way alone. Lonely, tearful book. STONE, IRVING. The Agony and the Ecstasy. Fictionalized life of Michaelangelo, Doubleday 1961 (m) STONEBRAKER, FLORENCE. Kept Sisters. Beacon pbo 1961; scv. STRACHEY, ISOBEL. The Perfectionists. London, Anthony Blond, 1961. (m) major; elderly lifelong couple of "boys". SWENSON, PEGGY. The Unloved. Midwood Tower 1961. Harmless. TORRES, TERESKA, The Only Reason. Simon & Schuster, 1961; pbr Dell 1962. A story of seven inter-related characters, one a repressed lesbian who "..loses her inhibitions one night on a ratty street near Pigalle....not as good as this writer's other novels, " TRACY, HONOR. A Number of Things. Random House 1960. (m) satire; wicked, witty and very English. TREECE, HENRY. Jason, Random House 1961. Retelling of the Jason myth by a writer of historical novels in the debunking, or "they were all just woad smeared savages" vein. This one depicts the Quest of the Golden Fleece, with the legendary Hercules depicted as a strong man who liked weak boys, If you like the type. ++ TROUBRIDGE, LADY UNA VINCENZO. The Life and Death of Radclyffe Hall, London, Hammond, 1961, Major, and, of course, a cornerstone title for any semi-complete collection, the biography of the famous author of The Well of Loneliness marks a milestone in the history of lesbian literature. Told by her lifelong admitted lover, it fills in and complements the autobiographical novel which for many years was synonymous with lesbianism in the popular mind. R. TRYON, MARK. Take it Off, pbr tct Of G Strings and Strippers, Beacon 1959, evening waster or scv according to taste. --- 30 VAIL, ANN. Carnal Orgy. Novel Books, 1961. SCV, VEREL, SHIRLEY. The Dark Side of Venus. London, Quadriga, 1960; pbr Bantam Books 1962. Romantic, sensitive novel of Judith Allart, a divorcee in her mid-twenties, with a history of homosexual experience only vaguely assimilated or accepted as yet. The growth of her love affair for a girl of nineteen, Diana, is told slowly and with meticulous restraint reminiscent of Elizabeth Craigin's Either is Love. Despite efforts by well-meaning friends and relatives to separate the women, the reso- lution is satisfactory --and convincingly uncontrived. A classic of its genre, told with searing tension and delicate warmth...in fact, this would have been Editor's Choice in any year that did not include May Sarton's Small Room, and the choice was by no means a forgone conclusion. HIGHLY recommended. VIDAL, GORE. The Best Man; a Play About Politics. Boston; Little, Brown, 1960, (m) homosexual theme very important, writing excellent (of course). VOLTAIRE. Candide. French classic, 1960, available in too many cheap translations and college reprints to list (some, however, are expurgated) and for some strange reason, never before included in these listings. Major in a horrifying satire on philosophy. WADE, CARLSON. The Troubled Sex. Beacon pbo, 1961. non- fiction (it says here) scv; a new phenomenon, or do we mean.phew-nomenon? Supposed "case histories" which are actually a series of lesbian-type seduction scenes, complete with inane conversations. Obviously for the type of person who skips through a novel looking for the sexy parts -- here we have a considerate publisher who has saved him the trouble of looking! In these checklists for the last few years we have indulged in some speculation about "the low point of the homosexual novel." Somehow I think we've hit it. Also, every year, we receive a puzzled letter or three, asking why the Checklist editors are so "down" on the male-oriented novel of unsubtle lesbian bedsport. Our distaste is based neither on offended prudery nor a distaste for the male libido; rather, it is the fact that these books perpetuate public stereotypes and myths which are, to say the least, false, and at worst vicious. The ignorant, or the ill-informed, tends to take his picture of the lesbian from these books; The "lesbian" is portrayed as an unscrupulous nympho- manic, seducing women in the intervals of dozens of mea -- or as a sadistic fiend preying upon the "normal" women, or even (in the least harmful of these stereotypes) as an ignorant and frigid muddlehead who can be Immediately Cured once a Real Man has hit upon some magic formula of caressed. Obviously these mythical. stereotypes have no foundation in fact, and serve no purpose in creating --- 3/ a-climate-of-honesty, truth and tolerance. The reading of risque "sex novels" is one of the most harmless of all channellings of sex frustrations. Lessening censor- ship, and a freer emotional climate, have given to the writer of cheap novels a wider latitude in expressing his views on the subject, almost unparalleled in history. It would appear, therefore, that there is no excuse for the blaptrap shoddiness of today's cheap sex novels, or for the publishers who, in catering to the desire of a mass audience for sexy books do not even assure themselves of the quality of the vicarious experience which the apologists of such books assure me they provide. Paperback novels could be a great deal better than they are. It is not their sexiness which we as editors deplore; it is the quasi-hiserate shoddiness with which they depict the greatest of all human experiences. WARREN, JAY. The Path Between. Midwood-Tower, 1961. pbo. Harmless evening waster; schoolgirl Ellie doesn't like boys, has an affair with her friend Myrna, then after psychiatric help, decided to return to her friendship with a boy who has himself had. homosexual experience and can understand the problem. Editors disagreed on this one. WAUGH, AUBERON. The Foxglove Saga. Simon & Schuster, 1961. (m) minor, in first novel by son of famous Evelyn Waugh. WELTY, EUDORA. "First Love" ss in The Wide Net and Other Stories, Harcourt, Brace, 1943; also in Lynskey, Reading Modern Fiction, apbr Scribners 1952. (note that this collection also contains two other variant titles; "Bliss" described under Katherine Mansfield, and "The Happy Autumn Fields", listed under Elizabeth Bowen). (m) variant, innocent; hero-worship on the part of a deaf-mute eleven-year-old boy. R WEST, ANTHONY. The Trend is Up. pbr Crest 1961. + WEST, EDWIN. Strange Affair. Monarch, 1962. Good of kind, worthy of serious attention. The story of Mauricia, commercial artist, being pursued by "Joyce -- a bored lesbian, out for kicks. Mauricia wants to paint Joyce, not to possess her; however, in a hiatus of Mauricia's affair with a young and eccentric novelist, she becomes entangled with Joyce before realizing that Joyce belongs irrevocably to her domineering lesbian friend Lillian. Not at all the usual paperback. R WEST, MORRIS L. The Crooked Road. pbr Dell 1962. (m) minor R WHITE, PATRICK The Aunt's story. qpbr WHEELER, HUGH C. Big Fish, Little Fish. (m); Drama. Viking Compass 1961 Random House 1961. --- WHITTINGTON, HARRY. Guerrilla Girls. Pyramid pbo, 1961. Fair pulp-adventure type novel laid in Algeria; narrator an Algerian-born French nurse. Lengthy lesbian element; but somewhat too similar to his last year's "Rebel Women", laid in Castro Cuba.... one book like that was enough. WHITTINGTON, HARRY. The Young Nurses. Pyramid pbo 1961. Good of kind; one of four young nurses is loved by a very gentle, likably-presented woman, The lesbian element is brief, but unusually well handled for this sort of book. WILCOX, SYLVIA. For Every Hero. McKay, 1961. (m) Wave during World War I has platonic affair with a homosexual. 1. WILLIAMS, JAY. The Witches Random House 1957, pbr Bantam 1959; (m) fco. Scotland in the 16th century; some very brief discussion of James VI as "too fond of pretty boys", WILSON, COLIN. Adrift in Soho. Houghton, Mifflin 1961. (m) minor. R WILSON, EDMUND. Memoirs of Hecate County pbr Signet 1961. WILLIAMSON HUGH ROSS. A Wicked Pack of Cards London, Michael Joseph, 1961. (m) major in a high-grade psychological novel based on the Tarot pack. WOLFE, BERNARD. The Magic of Their Singing Scribner 1961. (m) hoodlum, in a satirical, nostalgic novel of New York. WOLFSON; P. J. All Women Die 1933, Vanguard; pbr tet Three of a Kind Berkley Medallion, 1957, 1962, (m) minor in a real- Istic novel about a construction-gang boss. R. WYNDHAM, JOHN. (pseud. of John Beynon Harris) "Consider Her Ways" in Infinite Moment, pb Ballantine 1961. 0 HELP WANTED "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness"..... and it is better to publish an in- complete listing, than none at all. But in cover- ing an ever-growing field, although two heads may be better than one, twenty would hardly cover it. For instance, the "Variant film" section contains no review of the British film "The Victim" or of a reported movie based on the trials of Oscar Wilde, simply because neither editor had a chance to see the films in question, and none of our loyal readers thought to send them in. So --if you see a film, a TV play or a college magazine story, read a book or a magazine with a variant theme, PLEASE don't assume we already have it! Send us the data --if it duplicates what we have, well two varying views may help us achieve a more impartial review! And if we don't, we'll LOVE you! -- ---