The Violet Hour: The Violet Quill and the Making of Gay Culture (Between Men~Between Women: Lesbian and Gay Studies) [Paperback]

David Bergman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0231130511 | ISBN-13: 978-0231130516 | Edition: 1st Printing

The members of the literary circle known as the Violet Quill -- Andrew Holleran, Felice Picano, Edmund White, Christopher Cox, Michael Grumley, Robert Ferro, and George Whitmore -- collectively represent the aspirations and the achievement of gay writing during and after the gay liberation movement. David Bergman's social history shows how the works of these authors reflected, advanced, and criticized the values, principles, and prejudices of the culture of gay liberation. In spinning many of the most important stories gay men told of themselves in the short period between the 1969 Stonewall Riots and the devastation of the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s, the Violet Quill exerted an enormous influence on gay culture. The death toll of the AIDS epidemic, including four of the Violet Quill's seven members, has made putting such recent events into a historical context all the more important and difficult. The work of the Violet Quill expresses the joy, suffering, grief, hope, activism, and caregiving of their generation. The Violet Hour meets the urgent need for a history of the men who bore witness not only to the birth but also to the decimation of a culture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Only a scholarly expert in gay literature and cultural history could produce a book as comprehensive, compelling and informative as The Violet Hour. Yet Bergman avoids pedantry entirely, making his work as much of a treat to read as any of the best writings of men he is writing about.

(Mark Panos Gay Life 6/1/05)

The Violet Hour by David Bergman explores the aspirations and achievements of the gay writers known collectively as the Violet Quill.

(Out Magazine 9/1/05)

Bergman's book is an interesting mix of literary scholarship and personal memoir.

(Gene Hayworth The Independent Gay Writer Vol 14, No 3)

a readable page-turner...a fascinating group biography

(Martha E. Stone The Gay & Lesbian Review Summer 2009)

It is a notable and worthy contribution to gay history and literary analysis.

(Gary L. Atkins, Seattle University The Journal of American History )

[Bergman] is extremely well-versed...and his study should prove a rich source.

(Arthur L. Little, Jr. American Literature )

A perceptive and heartfelt study.

(Sean O'Toole Journal of the History of Sexuality )

The Violet Hour is a valuable resource and an entertaining read.

(South Atlantic Review )

Review

An interesting social history that reveals the Violet Quill as emblematic of the trajectory of the gay male elite from dominance -- by caste -- of gay representation, to devastation by AIDS, to obscurity at the hands of contemporary corporate control of gay imagery. Bergman is particularly provocative in illuminating the various degrees of success to which survivors Picano, Holleran, and White have been able to negotiate both the plague and commodification.

(Sarah Schulman, author of Rat Bohemia and People in Trouble )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; 1st Printing edition (April 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231130511
• ISBN-13: 978-0231130516
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,387,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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