That is a major change and it's an important and worrisome one. What do you think this says about the state of gay literature? In the last few years we've seen the disappearance of a lot of gay bookstores around the country. He tore her essay to shreds, but he also argued that Jews and homosexuals had a lot in common, that they were both minorities that are in the same boat. But one of the most amazing things he wrote from a gay political point of view is the essay "Pink Triangle, Yellow Star," which was sparked by a very foolish bizarre essay by Midge Decter about gay men and their identity. Then he started writing historical novels, which hardly dealt with homosexuality. It's over the top and out there and was a huge bestseller. He wrote "Myra Breckinridge" in the '60s, which is this wonderfully polymorphously perverse novel about a transsexual who rapes a straight man at one point. He adopted the strategy that there's no such thing as a homosexual, there's only a homosexual act homosexual is an adjective and not a noun. It sold very well but he got kicked in the teeth for writing it, and after that he played a little more coy. "The City and the Pillar" is a very gay book published early on in 1948. Do you think he's the most important figure in gay literature of the last 50 years?
Gore Vidal is the major thread connecting the book. Before, cities would ban any book with sexual content, and after WWII people could write about sex, even gay sex. Gay people also wanted to read about each other, and after WWII censorship for books loosened. Alan Berube, in his book "Coming Out Under Fire," does a great job of painting this sudden awareness and huge change. Gay boys who had grown up in the middle of nowhere entered the service, and found out they weren't alone. Why do you think the gay literary explosion happened right after World War II? The mainstream houses backed away from gay material in the '50s but it was picked up by smaller presses, like Greenberg and Guild. In my book I emphasize Capote's "Other Voices, Other Rooms" and Gore Vidal's "The City and the Pillar," but there were others. People could and wanted to write about it and the publishers would publish it. It was surprising how many came so quickly. After WWII there was suddenly a slew of them. Why do you think that is?įor the longest time, there were no gay characters or story lines in television or in the movies, so people had nowhere else to go but books for stories of gay life. Salon spoke to Bram (who is also the author of "The Father of Frankenstein," which was later turned into the film "Gods and Monsters") over the phone about Gore Vidal's importance, the death of the gay bookstore and the problem with gay men today.Īs you point out in the book, literature has had an outsize role in the evolution of gay culture. It also raises the question: In an era when being gay is considered mainstream, does gay writing still matter? For anybody interested in gay culture, "Eminent Outlaws" offers a crucial and fascinating overview of decades of American literary history. It describes Tennessee Williams' tortured relationship with his sexuality and gradual descent into alcoholic misery, James Baldwin's struggles against racism and Edmund White's eloquent reactions to the terror of AIDS. The book covers expansive territory, charting the tumultuous relationship between Gore Vidal and Truman Capote, whose passionate hatred for one another lasted until the latter's death (Vidal called it a "good career move").
#FAMOUS GAY MEN IN LITERATURE SERIES#
In his new book, "Eminent Outlaws," novelist Christopher Bram uses a series of complex portraits of America's most influential gay literary lions to argue for their position in the pantheon of American culture. Their words gave voice to a segment of the American population that, for much of its history, was hidden away. Starting in the 1940s, a coterie of bold writers - Gore Vidal, James Baldwin, Armistead Maupin and Tony Kushner, among many others - played a central role in creating what we now think of as gay life. One of the most crucial, but least-talked about, reasons for this change is gay literature. Now, openly gay people are everywhere in popular culture, gay kids are coming out as early as elementary school and we can get even get married in a half-dozen states (including, soon, Washington). Gay life in America has utterly transformed itself since World War II.