 "Queer
Pulp"
by Susan Stryker
Chronicle Books, 2001
Queer Pulp: Perverted
Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback is one of the best
books yet about the history of gay and lesbian pulp paperbacks in America.
The book follows the history of the gay paperback from its early pulp paperback
days, through the sleazy 60's, and into its out-and-out (no pun intended)
leap into pornography. Queer Pulp covers three main sections:
lesbian pulps, transgender pulps, and gay pulps. Of the three, lesbian
pulps were the ones most accepted by the mainstream. Most of the time these
were written by men and were filled with your basic wish fulfillment girl-girl
scenarios. The lesbian novels written by women also appealed to a male
audience, but their real fans were lesbian women who were afraid to come
out given the conservative climate of the 1950's.
Gay and transgendered
novels had a much tougher time making it to the general reading public.
These novels were few and far between and those that did come out where
forced had to follow the moral convention of the time. It was ok to detail
a same-sex relationship as long as no one lived happily ever after.
As the taste of the
reading public changed in the 1960's, so too did the nature of the gay
paperback. When readers wanted sleaze, they got sleaze. When readers wanted
hard-core pornography, it was waiting for them.
The legacy we have from
this genre are some impressive and honest stories as well as some of the
best (and campiest) cover art ever created (of which this books has some
great examples of). From just the covers alone, it is no wonder why gay
and lesbian paperbacks are the most sought after by collectors.
See also:
Strange Sisters
by Jaye Zimet
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