Boy by James Hanley

[London]: Andre Deutsch, 1990

James Hanley's Boy, originally published 1931 in a limited edition, is the story of thirteen-year-old Arthur Fearon. His parents pull him from school and send him to work so that he may help support the family. After a single day working at cleaning out the bilge of ship in port and suffering the hazing by the other boys on job, he stows away on a ship leaving for Alexandria in hopes of starting a new life. Discovered half-dead in the coal chute, he is nursed back to health and made a member of the crew. Many of the seasoned members of the crew make advances toward him, suggesting a long history on ships of boys serving the adult crew; cleaning, bringing food and being sexually available. It is discussed as if they had also been through this as boys and it was just an expected part of ship life.

New York: Knopf, 1932

Boy may be Hanley's most famous work due to the court case of 1934 where the publishers were found guilty of issuing an obscene libel. Joseph Pridmore, in his "Unpleasant and ugly in both narration and incident:" the troubled legal history of James Hanley's Boy,  provides an excellent history of the controversy. Andre Deutsch (1990) released the first unexpurgated edition since the trial. Although Knopf released the the first U.S. edition in 1932, ahead of the court case, several passages were softened and certain words were changed to suit an American audience.


Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (II); Garde (OTP, d); Mattachine Review (II); Young (1694)