Title: Out in Paperback
Author: Ian Young
Cover artist: Paul Richmond
Publisher: MLR Press
Amason Buy Link: N/A
Genre: non-fiction/gay literature
Length: 108 pages, 45000 words
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Please note this work was previously published in 2007.
A guest review by Sirius.
Summary: Overview of the history of covers for gay books in paperbacks with awesome illustrations
Blurb:
Out in Paperback is a wonderfully entertaining look at gay mass-market paperback cover art that throws light on the important role of the book publishing industry in the development of gay popular culture. Richly illustrated with over a hundred covers of gay-themed “pulps” published between 1948 and 1998, this fascinating visual history provides new insights into a striking form of gay imagery.
Following the huge demand for portable reading material during World War II, paperback publishing exploded in the post-war years. At the same time, the Kinsey Report and a spate of novels and non-fiction studies about male homosexuality suggested new and sensational subject matter. Literature, mass culture, and the emerging homosexual underground combined in the accessible pulp paperback with its striking, interpretive packaging.For many readers – including young, isolated gay men – an eye-catching, pocket-sized paperback cover on a drugstore rack provided their first intriguing look into a previously concealed gay world.
What were the messages behind the emblematic images and flashy graphics? For whom were they intended? What was their impact on a rapidly changing North American society? Ian Young, author of The Stonewall Experiment: A Gay Psychohistory and an authority on gay publishing, probes beneath the surface of gay pulp covers to reveal their underlying, sometimes surprising, messages.
Ian Young is one of the founders of the Canadian gay movement. His books include Sex Magick, The Male Muse, The AIDS Cult (with John Lauritsen), and The Stonewall Experiment. His essays, poems and short stories have been published in over fifty anthologies including What Love Is and The Golden Age of Gay Fiction. He lives in Toronto with his partner Wulf.
Originally published in 2007, this is a re-issued manuscript.
Review:
I usually really love books which do historical overviews of something I love, in this case the covers for gay books in paperback. I love that I can learn new historical facts from such books and in this case another reason why I picked up this book is because I was hoping to find new books to read. Obviously this book is a non-fiction and according to the blurbs the writer has all sorts of awesome credentials. I do not pretend to have any knowledge about the subject besides being familiar with some of the books mentioned in this one, so please take this review for what it is worth. I am a reader who wanted a readable overview of how the covers of these books changed throughout the years, what was the message they brought and I just wanted to see some of those covers.
Mostly my mission was accomplished successfully and I highly recommend you get this book if only for the awesome illustrations. It was absolutely fascinating to look at those covers and note how they changed. On most covers done in the Forties through the Sixties it seemed that publishers were trying to hide or dilute the message that book deals with homosexuality- there was always always a woman on the cover trying to interest the guy, and either the second guy is absent all together, or they are not looking at each other. When the writer pointed out that in the Sixties when attitudes toward gays slowly began to change, the covers reflected that too, and I thought that was fascinating. The two men, if they are both on the cover indeed started to look at each other.
Please take my next sentence for what it is worth, because as I said above I do not claim a knowledge of the subject that this writer has, but while I was loving the visual aspect of the book, I was kind of underwhelmed with the level of analysis it offers. Besides the point that the covers and the books themselves were helpful to gay men to give them some kind of access to stories about them, and to point how the change of general attitude towards homosexuality slowly but surely affected the mood of the covers, I am not quite sure whether the book was trying to present any other arguments. There is a history of publishing and a lot of books are mentioned and a lot of covers are presented, and I just kept waiting for more analysis of the covers. It is visually striking though and that part alone is worth the price in my opinion. The writer presented over 100 covers from his collection in this book.
For me though, the book served another useful purpose – I got some old books I never knew about before to read. Yes, some of those books are still available on Amazon in paperback and some prices are not that crazy. Apparently in the Sixties Joseph Hansen wrote under pseudonym of James Colton and while I just could not make myself pay the price for “Lost on Twilight Road”, I got myself his “Strange Marriage”. I am also very very tempted by “Sam” by Lonnie Coleman, which is apparently one of the few books in Fifties -Sixties which portrayed the main character – a gay man in a very positive light.
I also just searched for some other books which this one mentions on Amazon just to look at the covers more closely and enjoyed doing that a great deal.
Recommended.
Wonderful to see this book made available again.
I definitely agree with that.