The Golden Age of Lesbian Erotica [Paperback]

Victoria A. Brownworth (Editor), Judith M. Redding (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2007

Lesbian erotica of the 1920s through the 1940s had a bold new cast to it. Unlike the tender and affectionate eroticism of the Victorian era with its naughty schoolgirls, convent antics and ladies-in-waiting, these 20th Century tales brought verisimilitude and fantasy together. While Radclyffe Hall was being prosecuted for obscenity for her depiction of "sapphics" and "inverts" in the classic lesbian novel *The Well of Loneliness,* her friend Natalie Barney was riding naked through the streets of Paris on horseback with her lover, the poet Renee Vivienne and Anais Nin were penning lurid and lustful tales of very bad girls while yearning for Henry Miller's sensual wife, June.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Victoria A. Brownworth is the author of nine books, including the award-winning *Too Queer: Essays from a Radical Life* and editor of 14, including the award-winning *Night Bites: VampireTales of Blood and Lust. * A syndicated columnist, her work has appeared in numerous mainstream, queer and feminist publications, including the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Village Voice, the Advocate, OUT and Curve. Her erotic writing has appeared regularly in anthologies and magazines, and she is a former contributing writer to the lesbian sex magazines, *On Our Backs* and *Bad Attitude.* She has published several erotica collections, including most recently, *Bed: New Lesbian Erotica.* She also publishes gay male porn under a psuedonym. She teaches writing and film at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia where she added two new courses to the literary curriculum: Writing Below the Belt and Smut. She has also taught safe-sex education classes as well as classes on S/M and B/D for various lesbian and bisexual venues. She lives in Philadelphia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Magic Carpet Books; 1st Magic Carpet Books Ed edition (January 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977431142
• ISBN-13: 978-0977431144
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,833,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Victoria A. Brownworth is a Pulitizer Prize-nominated journalist and author of "Day of the Dead," "Too Queer," "Film Fatales" and "Rock Hudson: A Biography" and editor of the award-winning "Coming Out of Cancer," "Night Bites" and "Lost in America." Her essays, stories and columns have appeared in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, the Advocate and OUT magazine, as well as over 50 anthologies. She's reviewed for Publisher's Weekly, Booklist and a plethora of other newspapers, magazines and journals. She mentors young inner-city writers, has written several award-winning independent short films, including "Mondays" and "but would you take her back?" and teaches writing and film at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Read her political blog at www.victoriabrownworth.com, read her columns at www.curvemag.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, January 30, 2007

By 

E. B. MULLIGAN "Bronwyn" (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Golden Age of Lesbian Erotica (Paperback)

The above product description says it all - this is a not to be missed collection of great writers from 1898 to 1941. This book will give you a wonderful glimpse of novels that are classic in their stories and timeless in their writing.

Excerpts are from the outstanding authors-

Gale Wilhelm
Gertrude Stein
Renee Vivien
Anna Elisabet Weirauch
Pierre Louys
Sidonie Perrault
Isadora Atwood
Edwina Leonard
A.N. Graeme
Lois Lodge
Lilyan Brock
Dorothea Krivatsky
Violet Black
Felice Swados

The book concludes with three pieces written by Diane DeKalb-Rittenhouse that the editor describes "... are meant to reflect what lesbians might have written about in all there explicitness and immediacy had those avenues been open to them ...".

Hands down the most detailed (22 pages) and enlightening introduction of any book I have read.

The only thing that could have enhanced the book would be detailed biographical sketches of the authors. I have novels by the first four authors above and now need to seek out the others.

This is a Keeper!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting look at Lesbians in the turn of last century, but not really "erotica", September 12, 2007

By 

Jeremy Reaban "disco maven" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Golden Age of Lesbian Erotica (Paperback)

Stuff like this is a bit embarassing to review, since it's hard to explain why you bought something like this. In my case, it was to help research a story I'm working on which was set in the 1920s (a Lovecraft pastiche) which featured a lesbian character.

Anyway, basically it's a bunch of extracts from lesbian fiction from 1900-1950 or so. Most of it focuses on relationships and dealing with society which frowned on it at the time, the perils they faced - being committed in institutions most notably. I actually found it pretty helpful, but at the same time, I think someone looking for "erotica" will be disappointed by very few sex scenes, and many of the ones that are almost tacked on or done in language that would seem tame compared to modern romance novels. You likely won't get many thrills out of this, but you will likely develop a newfound respect for the problems they dealt with and perhaps a small tinge of guilt for the unfair persecution.