Protea Illustrations by Arabella Roupell

Protea mellifera

Plate 7 from Specimens of the Flora of South Africa (1849)

Arabella Roupell

Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, USA

Protea cynaroides

Plate 8 from Specimens of the Flora of South Africa (1849)

Arabella Roupell

Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, USA

Wilberforce by H. S. Cross

New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2015

I read Wilberforce over the course of two months...not because I didn't like it...quite the opposite in fact. After each chapter, I would close the book and marvel at how amazingly well-written it was. The language, the atmosphere, it is all spot-on. Anyone who has read one of the classic English boarding school novels from the late 1800s through the 1950s will recognize the key elements in Cross's novel. Of particular importance is the cricket match...in this case between the best the school has to offer and "the old boys" (graduates of the school who have returned for a summer games day).

The novel takes place in 1926 at St. Stephen's Academy. The fags (underclassmen) are in revolt and wreaking havoc while Morgan Wilberforce along with the other upperclassmen are busy sneaking off to taverns or having romantic rendezvous. Wilberforce has set his romantic sights on Spaulding, another student, and decides to get noticed by crashing into him during a rugby match. When a tragic event occurs, everything changes at St. Stephens and Wilberforce seems unable to cope.

Cross's Wilberforce takes its place in the canon of English schoolboy novels by referencing its predecessors. When he leaves St. Stephen's Academy, Silk, a former student for whom Wilberforce had fagged, leaves him a copy of Stalky & Co. (1899) by Rudyard Kipling. In Stalky & Co., another English school novel, Eric, or Little by Little (1858) by Frederic Farrar is referenced when someone is derided for being too pious by saying they were "Ericking." This is a particularly interesting reference since our main character, Wilberforce, caused quite a scandal the year before the novel begins by refusing to be confirmed. His relationship to religious belief remains a central theme throughout the novel.

While the novel does have some degree of resolution, it remains open for a sequel. It appears that Ms. Cross is already at work on a second novel set at St. Stephens, but it is unclear if it will include young Wilberforce as a character. What she has written could become the start of a truly compelling series.

Thetis Finds Achilles Mourning over the Corpse of Patroclus by John Flaxman

Thetis Finds Achilles Mourning over the Corpse of Patroclus (1790s)

John Flaxman (English, 1755-1826)

Engraving

Self Portrait by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Self Portrait (1847)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

The Immoralist by Andre Gide

New York : Knopf, 1930
(later printing, 1949)

Originally published in1902 with the first English translation by Dorothy Bussy in 1930, The Immoralist is an early defense of homosexuality and a commentary on ethics and morality. Beginning with a short letter written by Michel's brother, this novella-length work is structured primarily as a monologue or confession.

Out of a sense of duty to his dying father, Michel marries Marceline and they honeymoon in Tunisia. While there, Michel becomes quite ill and during his convalescence, he meets a young boy, Bachir, whose beauty and strength captivate him. Seeming to now have a reason to survive tuberculosis and largely ignoring Marceline, Michel now begins to live his life according to his own desires, not what society dictates.

This way of being in and thinking about the world is strongly influenced by the ideas and writings of Oscar Wilde, who makes his appearance in the form of  the character Ménalque. This is not at all surprising since Gide and Wilde were literary friends of sorts who met and corresponded during the 1890s about these very issues.

While technically a novel, it reads more like a philosophical defense, something along the lines of Gide's Corydon (1924) where he offers a more specific defense of homosexuality in the form of four Socratic dialogues.

Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (IV); Garde (Primary, **); Mattachine Review (IV); Young (1420,*)

Finistere by Paul Cadmus

Finistère (1952)

Paul Cadmus (American, 1904-1999)

Egg tempera on pressed wood panel

10 x 13.5 in.

Whitney Museum of American Art

Finistère, or literally the end of the earth, is the westernmost part of  France. The longstanding location of a naval base, it appears repeatedly in literature and art in the first part of the twentieth century. Jean Genet's novel, Querelle de Brest, portions of Fritz Peters' novel Finistère and Paul Cadmus' painting Finistère all center on this geographic area. 

The Whitney Museum of American Art included this painting in an exhibit titled American Legends: From Calder to O'Keefe (December 22, 2012-June 29, 2014). A transcript of the audio guide stop for this painting follows.

NARRATOR: Finistère—the French region that lends this Paul Cadmus painting its name—is in the far west of Brittany, where the English Channel and the Atlantic meet.

The painting’s two main figures are young men on bicycles. Each wears nothing but a shirt and revealing swim briefs. They have the bodies of Classical or Renaissance nudes: idealized and strong. Cadmus was deeply influenced by Italian Renaissance painting. Here, he’s even executed the work in egg tempera, a painstaking medium that most artists had given up by the later sixteenth century. 

The picture’s mood is a little odd. The sea wall is labyrinthine, and blocks most of the ocean view. Hardly anyone is looking at each other, and it’s not entirely clear what’s going on. Most of the figures seem intent on their private thoughts or business. There’s a strange huddle of people to the right, including a woman in traditional Breton costume. She adds to the painting’s slightly surreal quality—but perhaps also hints at the presence of conservative society.

The two central men aren’t making eye contact either, but they do seem to be communicating. In this way, the painting is slyly humorous about how homoerotic desire can hide in plain sight—even at a time when that desire was essentially forbidden.

It Starts With Trouble : William Goyen and the Life of Writing by Clark Davis

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2015

I first became aware of Goyen's writing with The House of Breath (1950). The writing, although prose, has such a poetic quality about it that it isn't easily forgotten. His style is not easily defined and he, himself did not believe that he fit into any of the genres that were often ascribed to him (Southern Gothic, modernist, magical realist, etc.).

Although not always appreciated by family members, Goyen seems to have used the events of his life, particularly life in east Texas, as subject matter for his writing. This allows Davis to tell the story of Goyen's life through his published novels and stories as well as manuscript materials from collections at two universities.

Goyen's primary relationships were with men until he was in his mid-40s and these relationships find their way into a number of his works. He met and later married the actress Doris Roberts in 1963.

Not having read Goyen's other work, this biography is a great introduction to his entire oeuvre. I hope to explore some of his other novels in the future. I'm particularly interested in Half a Look of Cain (1994), the novel that was written after The House of Breath but could never find a publisher in Goyen's lifetime.

Washington DC - November 2015

Channeling O'Keefe (Between Here & There)

Teaism

The Blind Bow Boy by Carl Van Vechten

New York : Knopf, 1923

The Blind Bow Boy is a bit of a camp novel. Young Harold Prewett is summoned to see his estranged father. Having been raised by his Aunt Sadi since the time of his mother's death, his father was a virtual stranger. George Prewett's has hired someone to teach Harold about the world. Paul (sometimes Paulet) Moody is tasked with introducing Harold to the world. Soon Harold starts attending parties and jazz clubs in Harlem and becomes acquainted with a number of interesting characters such as the eccentric Duke of Middlebottom and Zimbule, a circus performer.

Campaspe's garden, which appears as the dustjacket and frontispiece image by Robert E. Locher, is in many ways the center of the story and is obviously the source of the novel's title.

     Campaspe's garden, at the rear of the house, was enclosed in high brick walls on which were trained espaliered fruit-trees. Dwarf shrubs forced their miniature trunks between the mossy crevices of the flagstones of various sizes and colours that paved the ground. Over these a quaint tortoise of considerable size and incredible age, named Algaë, wandered in a disconsolate manner. There were a few comfortable chairs and, in one corner, under the shade of a spreading crab-apple tree, a table. In the opposite corner rose a rococo fountain which Campaspe, entranced at first sight, had purchased in an antiquary's shop in Dresden. This fountain gave the atmosphere to the whole place. On a low pedestal, in the midst of a semi-circular pool, a marble Eros, blindfold, knelt. His bow drawn taut, the god was about to discharge an arrow at random. Beneath him, prone on the marble sward, a young nymph wept. The figures were surrounded by a curving row of stiff straight marble narcissi, the water dripping from their cups into the pool below, in which silver-fish played.

(1st Edition (1923), p.158-9)

A curiosity in the text is a lengthy negative commentary (p.159-165) by Campaspe regarding the writing of Waldo Frank, with specific reference to The Dark Mother, published 3 years prior to The Blind Bow Boy and discussed previously on this blog.  

Bibliographies & Ratings: Garde (OTP, d); Mattachine Review (I); Young (3900)

Gay Berlin by Robert Beachy

New York : Knopf, 2014

I don't often read non-fiction, however when I saw this title I was immediately hooked. Not exactly linear, it reads more like a collection of essays on various aspects of gay life in Berlin from the mid-1800s and stopping just short of Hitler taking power, with particular focus on the Wiemar years.

We think of the gay rights movement as it relates to the Stonewall riots but multiple organizations in Berlin were fighting for gay rights (particularly the repeal of Paragraph 175) years before. Then as now, the philosophies of these organizations were not monolithic. As well, they included members who ranged from the most liberal to the most conservative (including members of the far right Nazi Party).

It is a complicated history with strong connections to both the youth group movement and male prostitution. Along the way Beachy makes the connections to many literary works, some of which are well known ... some not so much. Isherwood and Auden spent time in Berlin as has been widely read about in Isherwood's Berlin Stories and more truthfully in Christopher and His Kind. I'll definitely want to track down the diaries, autobiographies and thinly veiled autobiographical novels from others of the time. A short list of literary works available in German at the time (André Gide's Immoralist (1902), Herman Bang's Mikaël (1904), Mikhail Kuzmin's Wings (1906)) will also make for some interesting reading. Maybe less well known are the gay silent films of the era and I'm really looking forward to exploring those.

This is a fascinating read. Let us hope that we need not wait too long for the next installment from Mr. Beachy covering gay life under Hitler.

Imminent Spring Dance by Loretta Yang

Imminent Spring Dance (2012)

Loretta Yang (China)

Cast Glass

30 3/4 x 22 x 19 in.

Gentlemen, I Address You Privately by Kay Boyle

New York : Smith and Hass, 1933

Shortly after World War I, an English priest, Munday, defrocked for playing "Poeme de l'Extase" during collection, exiles himself to the Normandy countryside. Here he befriends the Cockney sailor, Ayton, a young man who seems to continually find himself in trouble -- theft, desertion, etc. Before going into hiding, they have the following conversation while Munday sits at his piano. It is clear where the relationship is headed and like others before him, Munday seems unable or unwilling resist young Ayton's charms.


     "We could go away to Mont-St.-Michel," said Ayton softly. "We could go away together."
     "You've gone off too many times," said Munday bitterly. And here was the truth of all his preaching, he thought suddenly in anguish. He was shamed now by the revelation, but now it was too late to falter. "I can't bear to think of you having no choice or discrimination. You've gone off with too many people. You have no pride."
     "But a strong man," said Ayton humbly, and he drew nearer, "could teach me pride, Munday."
     The little man came close to him, and if he moved a finger, thought Munday, his own pride would shatter like crystal. He stood looking down for courage upon the pure flight of keys.
     "We could go off together," said Ayton, "it would be like a pilgrimage together. I would go humbly to the church, very humble, and very grateful for the good that you'll bring to my soul."
     "You've gone off too many times," said Munday again.
     "But never with you," said Ayton.
     "No, never with me," said Munday, but he knew the tower of strength was crumbling in him. It was Ayton who moved, who took up his hand and embraced it; he felt the warm childish lips pressed wildly on his flesh.
     "I want to be saved," Ayton cried out, and he fell on his knees before him. "I can't be damned forever, I'm not an evil man," he said. "I have to be saved, Munday, and it's only you that can save me. I want to be by you always, I want to live my life with you."
     "How many times have you said that before?" said Munday, and his voice was wrung small and strange in his throat.
     "But never to you!" cried Ayton.
     "No, never to me," said Munday in torment. "But now you have said this to me, Ayton, now you have said those words to me."
     He saw the little man's face turned up to him in wonder, and he put out his hands to him, whispering in torment, and followed blindly where he led.

(1st edition (1933), p.105-6)

In 1991, a revised edition of Gentlemen, I Address You Privately was released by Capra Press. Ms. Boyle had completed the revised text shortly before her death. One key change is the transposition of chapters two and three. Apparently, reversed in the original edition, this change corrects an obvious continuity issue within the story. According to a note in the new edition, she had always wanted to revisit this text as she felt that her younger self had 'over-written' it. It's easy to see that she has tightened up the language and removed much of its floweriness (although I rather prefer the floweriness). Part of her discomfort with the original edition may have been due to how open it was, which can particularly be seen in the following passage. In this scene, Munday and Ayton are preparing the ground for planting on Quespelle's farm where they are hiding from the authorities. I've included the quote from the 1933 edition, followed by a conflated quote with strikethroughs showing excisions of the 1933 text and bold red text showing additions from the 1991 text and finally the quote as it appears in the revised 1991 edition.


(1st edition, 1933)
     Munday thrust his spade into the ground, and slowly turned the clots over: deep to the hilt with his foot borne down on the rim, as Ayton had shown him. The earth was rich and full of promise, unused, youthful earth that, for all they knew, had never been sown before. But everything was halted in his body, as though a heavy hand had been laid upon him. A great weight of spring had fallen far and near, and Munday could no longer hasten. He learned to cast the rocks out with his hands, slowly, endlessly striking and turning the soil.
     It was Ayton's strong rhythmic action, he thought, that made his own seem labored. The man moved from tree to tree, dividing his work between two trunks in this fashion, driving deep and pitching out the clumps as though he were devouring the soil. Even the spread and grip of his legs, planted wide and balancing the iron power, seemed braced for subduing an element that ran between. He was no ordinary man preparing the soil for growth, but a wild master of mount, and man, and weather, riding hard the untamed mustang that strained between his thighs.

(1st edition (1933), p.178-9)

(Conflated, 1933 & 1991)
Munday thrust his spade into the ground, and slowly turned the clots over: deep to the hilt it went with his foot borne pressing down on the rim, as Ayton had shown him. The earth was rich and full of promise, unused, youthful earth virgin soil that, for all they knew, had never been sown before. But everything was halted in his body, as though a heavy hand had been laid upon him. A The great weight of spring had seemed to have fallen far and near wide, and Munday could no longer hasten found it difficult to make haste. He learned to cast the rocks out with his hands, slowly Now and then he leaned over to cast the rocks aside, and then returned to endlessly striking and turning the soil.
     It was perhaps Ayton's strong rhythmic action, he thought, that made his own seem labored. The man moved from tree to tree, dividing pursuing his work between two trunks in this fashion, driving deep and pitching out the clumps of earth, he and his spade seeming to as though he were devouring the soil. Even tThe spread and grip of his legs, planted wide and balancing the iron power his weight, seemed were braced for subduing an element that ran between whatever stood in the way. He was no ordinary workman preparing the soil for growth, but a wild master of mount, and man, and weather, riding hard the untamed mustang that strained between his thighs all men and of all seasons of the year.
     It was the supreme authority in Ayton's flesh that humbled Munday, this appalling, almost brutal power of the penetration into the land. Each thrust of the shovel gave increased fervor to his impassioned advance, and in the end he would have the whole universe, clump on clump, uprooted and turned to fallow land. He had no time for speech, no time to turn his head toward Munday. The urgency of every fiber of his being drove each thrust to the subduing of the earth, yet he was still not appeased when each attack was through.

(1st edition (1933), p.178-9 & Revised edition (1991), p.119)

(Revised edition, 1991)
     Munday thrust his spade into the ground, and slowly turned the clots over: deep to the hilt it went with his foot pressing down on the rim, as Ayton had shown him. The earth was rich and full of promise, unused, virgin soil that, for all they knew, had never been sown before. But everything was halted in his body, as though a heavy hand had been laid upon him. The great weight of spring seemed to have fallen far and wide, and Munday found it difficult to make haste. Now and then he leaned over to cast the rocks aside, and then returned to endlessly turning the soil.
     It was perhaps Ayton's strong, rhythmic action that made his own seem labored. The man moved from tree to tree, pursuing his work between two trunks and pitching out the clumps of earth, he and his spade seeming to devour the soil. The spread and grip of his legs, planted wide and balancing his weight, were braced for subduing whatever stood in the way. He was no ordinary workman preparing the soil for growth, but a master of all men and of all seasons of the year.
     It was the supreme authority in Ayton's flesh that humbled Munday, this appalling, almost brutal power of the penetration into the land. Each thrust of the shovel gave increased fervor to his impassioned advance, and in the end he would have the whole universe, clump on clump, uprooted and turned to fallow land. He had no time for speech, no time to turn his head toward Munday. The urgency of every fiber of his being drove each thrust to the subduing of the earth, yet he was still not appeased when each attack was through.

(Revised edition (1991), p.119)

Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (IV); Garde (Primary, *); Mattachine Review (IV); Young (387)

Photographs of Fritz Peters from the Collection of Edward Field

The following images are shared with the kind permission of Edward Field.

Fritz Peters with maid, Clara (1914)

Fritz Peters with brother, Tom
in Chicago (1914)

Fritz Peters with brother, Tom (1915)

Fritz Peters, 4 years old (1917)

Fritz Peters (1932-33)

Fritz Peters' World's Fair ID (1933)

Fritz Peters (1938)

Fritz Peters in California (1941)

Fritz Peters in the Army (1942)

Fritz Peters in the Army (1942)

Fritz Peters, soldier (1940s)

Fritz Peters with son, 'Peto' (1961)

Fritz Peters' passport photo (1962)

Fritz Peters (c.1965)

Fritz Peters (c.1970)

These images originally appeared in Gallery 1 on FritzPeters.info, September 1, 2006. 

Paul Cadmus by Luigi Lucioni

Paul Cadmus (1928)

Luigi Lucioni (American, 1900-1988)

Oil on canvas

16 x 12 1/8 in.

Brooklyn Museum

Quaint Honour : a play in three acts by Roger Gellert (John Edwin Holmstrom)

London : Secker & Warburg, 1958
(jacket incorrectly states two acts)

Quaint Honour's setting is an unnamed public school during the late 1950s. House Prefect, Tully, is challenged by his fag, Turner, to seduce another junior, Hamilton. Taking up the challenge, Tully and Hamilton are soon an item. Just as quickly, they are found out by Head of House, Park who reports them to Housemaster, Hallowes. Tully will of course be sacked, but what is Hamilton's fate?

Originally produced at the Arts Theatre in London, it premiered on May 1, 1958. This private club was beyond the reach of Lord Chamberlain's powers of censorship.

Produced by Frank Dunlop and with settings by Paul Mayo, the original cast included John Richmond as Robert Hallowes, Philip Waddilove as M. L. Park, John Charlesworth as J. V. H. Tully, Roderick McLaren as R. R. Turner and Michael Caridia as T. A. B. Hamilton.


Bibliographies & Ratings: Garde (Primary, **); Young (1380)

Michael Caridia as Hamilton and John Charlesworth as Tully
in The Arts Theatre production of Quaint Honour, 1958.

The Dark Mother by Waldo Frank

New York : Boni & Liveright, 1920

The Dark Mother by Waldo Frank is not a gay novel per se. It is however an excellent example of a novel where the primary intense relationship is the friendship between two men. The relationship is so intense in fact, that it's easy to think the absence of physicality is just the prudishness of the time. Although the homosexual nature of the relationship is never mentioned, the reader can feel it's strong presence.

Thomas Rennard, a lawyer from New York meets David Markand while vacationing. Markand's mother has recently died and he plans to move to New York. After arriving in New York, an intense love triangle of sorts plays out among Markand, Thomas Rennard and his sister Cornelia.

In the following quote, really the heart of the novel, Rennard explains his feelings to Markand through a story. Afterwards, he immediately changes the subject as if he feels he has revealed too much.

Waldo Frank (1920)
 Alfred Stieglitz
American (1864-1946)
Palladium phtotogaph
25.1 x 20.2 cm
Art Institute of Chicago

     There was a man ... who loved his friend. This man loved his friend and a woman came into his life whom he also loved. He asked for her in marriage, she gave her promise. So he went to his friend and told him. And the friend cried, 'Do not wed her. Remain with me!' And the man said: 'I love this woman but you are my friend. I remain with you.' He dismissed the woman whom he loved.
     Now, thereafter, all was sorrow in the home of the man and his friend. One night as the man slept an angel came to him. The angel said: 'Thou who art so loyal to thy friend, name a wish and it is granted.' The man half-unknown to himself, cried out: 'Make a miracle! Make one my friend and my lover. Then I may be loyal and yet be happy.' The angel smiled. 'So it is already.' The angel disappeared.
     ... at once the man awoke. He found himself in his bed. He remembered the angel's visitation. He believed it. He ran to the sleeping chamber of his friend, expecting to behold a miracle. It was his friend, his unchanged friend who slept there. The man cursed and smote his breast. Then a great light came to him. He understood. He returned both loyal and happy. (p.88-89)

Bibliographies & Ratings: Young (1318)

Thanks to U.S. copyright law, the Internet, the University of California and Google, you can read a digital copy online or download it in your favorite e-book format.

NYC, July 2015

Descent to LaGuardia - July 1, 2015

New York, 3AM - July 3, 2015

The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother and Me by Sofka Zinovieff

New York : Harper, 2015

Lord Berners (Gerald) met Robert Heber-Percy, the Mad Boy, in the early 1930s and they were soon living together at Faringdon House. Long before de-criminalization, this was a brave act indeed. While still living with Gerald during World War II, Robert married Jennifer Fry, the author's grandmother and soon had a baby on the way. 

Filled with such luminaries as Igor Stravinsky, Evelyn Waugh, Cecil Beaton, and Gertrude Stein, Ms. Zinovieff has written a moving biography of Faringdon House through the lives of its residents and visitors. Endlessly fascinating, this is an amazing account of the lives of British society and artists from around the world. 

It also must be said that the physical production of this book is outstanding. Printed on heavy stock with archival photographs throughout, it is a pleasure to hold in the hand and an obvious labor of love for the author. 

Madawaska - Acadian Light-Heavy (2nd Arrangement) by Marsden Hartley

Madawaska - Acadian Light-Heavy (2nd Arrangement) (1940)

Marsden Hartley

American (1877-1943)

Oil on hardboard

40 x 30 in.

Blood Brothers by Ernst Haffner

New York : Other Press, 2015

Blood Brothers, originally published as Jugend auf der Landstrasse Berlin in 1932, was banned by the Nazis in 1933 and disappeared. It was re-issued in the original German in 2013 after it's re-discovery. This English translation by Michael Hofmann is based on the 2013 edition.

Haffner was a journalist and social worker in Berlin from 1925 to 1933 and as a result, his only novel has a feeling of reportage. He shows the reader the underground world of Berlin in the years leading up to Hitler's taking power. Gangs of youth who aren't old enough to work legitimately must survive any way they can through pick-pocketing, prostitution and theft ... relying on each other to survive.

Willi and Ludwig, our main characters, grow uncomfortable with stealing from others in the community who also have nothing, separate from the gang and try to go legitimate in another part of town. This is when the reader gets a glimpse of the wealthier parts of the city as our protagonists are picked up by a couple of wealthy gay men for the evening. After this experience, they decide they don't want to go down the road of prostitution but form a bond of mutual support outside of the gang.

The Descent by Fritz Peters

New York : Farrar, Straus and Young, 1952

“All day Sunday on the road, and in spite of his absorbed self-analysis, he had been unable not to watch the travelers on the road. Where were all these people going? The relation of people-Americans-to their automobiles (the way he felt about his own car, the manner in which it seemed to endow him with special importance as a person as if it were an extension of himself, a necessary adjunct to his ego) intrigued him. It seemed to him-and again he felt a sense of discovery-that it was a material representation of enormous magnitude: the cult of the machine-the automobile-had replaced faith. The road, leading endlessly and relentlessly on, a pathway to the unknown, the unexperienced, the future, was capable of leading him anywhere. If there was a heaven for Americans, it would be on such a road, at the top of a rise; something that would be reached in a car."

-The Descent, p.182-3

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

[1] (Review Edition) New

York : Farrar, Straus and

Young, 1952 [2] New York :

Signet/NAL, 1953 [3] (As

Descent to Darkness) New

York : Berkley Publishing

Corp, 1959

While correcting the final galley proofs for Finistère, Fritz Peters was already hard at work on his third novel. While staying with friends in Clinton, New York, he had begun his research for a novel that takes place on the roads and highways of the United States. He began by observing and interviewing drivers traveling Route 20 in New York, asking the question "Where are we all going?"

The Descent tells the stories of people from all over the country, bringing them together at one crucial moment on a highway in New Mexico. Each individual's experience and choices brings them to this place and time.

Peter Wells is leaving Three Bridges New York, headed to California to be a screenwriter. He's unsure of why he is going and is worried about his father's ill health.

Steven Williams of New York feels smothered by his wife Marjorie, quits his job and begins a cross-country trip, headed toward Santa Fe.

Henry and Mabel Franklin are in a miserable marriage, where Mabel is in charge and believes that Henry is a miserable excuse for a husband. Each year, they take a vacation together, but this year may be the year that Henry finds his voice.

Bob & Mary Hume are on an extended camping vacation in the Southwest with their two children, Toby and Emily. Bob seems to be the only one enjoying himself, but will Mary say anything to him? The children have ideas about what they would like to do, but will their parents listen?

Caroline Pratt has picked up Tom Foster. She's a rich girl who wants to shock her parents by her reckless behavior of picking up a one-night stand. She is desperate to keep Tom around, though, and will do anything to keep him.

Richard Simms is an artist in Santa Fe. His wife Dorothy manages Richard's mother's properties, including the ones that she gave Richard to help support him. Richard begins to doubt his talent as a artist and the tension in the house increases.

Jim Curran, a veteran of WWII, has no job, but rents an apartment behind the Simms' house with his government check. Now that the United States is fighting in Korea, he feels people no longer care about the veterans of previous wars and his sadistic nature begins to emerge.

This post originally appeared on FritzPeters.info, February 1, 2009. 

Avonia quinaria alstonii

Avonia quinaria alstonii

1-inch pot

July 31, 2012

Wood Engravings by Rockwell Kent

Twilight of Man (1926)
Rockwell Kent

Wood Engraving

5 1/2 x 8 inches

Forest Pool (1927)
Rockwell Kent

Wood Engraving

5 1/2 x 8 inches

The Captain by Russell Thacher

New York : Macmillan, 1951
Dustjacket: John O'Hara Cosgrove II

The Captain (actually a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve) is in charge of an LST (Landing Ship, Tank) and tasked with delivering Marines and their equipment to the deadly beach of Kia Orta on the Pacific front during World War II. He's not what you would call regular military. He doesn't do things by the book, but does what's necessary to get things done and protect the men in his charge. This doesn't sit well with top brass leading the invasion force.

In the middle of preparing for this assault on the Japanese,  he must also deal with a number of issues among his crew. From the near mutinous behavior of his engine crew to an African-American steward, Buck, whose skills are better used on deck with artillery, but isn't accepted by the other men due to his race.

Central to the story is an ongoing relationship between Gunnery Officer, Gilchrist, who after receiving a dear john letter develops a close relationship with Espisito, the Bosun's Mate. The relationship is already a challenge due to the difference in rank, but is doubly problematic for the captain since it becomes a topic of gossip among everyone on board. Stories of reciting poetry (Whitman) and spending time together in dark corners of the ship make it impossible for the Captain to ignore.

The Captain was well received when it was published in 1951. It's fascinating that the gay storyline is present throughout the book but is summarily ignored by reviewers of the time.


Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (III); Garde (OTP, a, **); Mattachine Review (III); Young (3768)

Lynd Ward's Woodcuts for Myron Brinig's The Flutter of an Eyelid

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
Title Page

One of the lovely things about Myron Brinig's The Flutter of an Eyelid is the illustrations by Lynd Ward. A simple 1-inch square woodcut at the beginning of each chapter illustrates the key events of that chapter in a surprisingly complete way. Ward is particularly skilled at this since he 'wrote' six novels without words in the 1920s and 1930s (God's Man, Madman's Drum, Wild Pilgrimage, Prelude to a Million Years, Song Without Words, and Vertigo), each work telling a story through a series of woodcuts. The form requires the 'reader' to sit with the images, sometimes returning to earlier ones, each time picking up some subtle nuance not previously seen.

The woodcuts for The Flutter of an Eyelid perfectly fit the story which has both classical and modern themes. They illustrate this particular story but at the same time feel completely timeless.

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
I: Approach by Sea

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
II: A Sunny Day in California

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
III: The Black Tub

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
IV: Characters of the Novel

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
V: Nudes on the Beach

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
VI: The Boat of Yang Kuo-chung

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
VII: L'Après Midi d'un Faune

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
VIII: A Woman in Christ's Shadow

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
IX: Music at Dark

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
X: Passion Upon a Cold and Thoughtful Stone

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XI: The Road is Long

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XII: The Tempest

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XIII: Life and Times of Lad Greengable: The Wanderer

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XIV: Worshippers of the Moon

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XV: Time, Gentlemen, Time!

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XVI: Make Way for the Lord

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XVII: Opium

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XVIII: Tragedy at Sea

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XIX: Life and Times of Lad Greengable: À Rebours

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XX: Preludes

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXI: Dorosel

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXII: Death of a Poet

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXIII: Tears in the Evening

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXIV: Jainticanto

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXV: Concerto

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXVI: The Lavengros

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXVII: Five Points of a Star

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXVIII: A Pitiful Little Man

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXIX: Prisoners

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXX: Violet Colored Mazes of Defeat

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXXI: The Day Was a Great Golden Cube

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXXII: Sinners in the Temple

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXXIII: End of the Novel

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXXIV: New England Interior

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXXV: The Trial

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXXVI: Departure to the Sea

Myron Brinig, The Flutter of an Eyelid, 1933
Illustrated by Lynd Ward
XXXVII: Finis