■ infn ■ → Queer Ship → 1: Chi siamo noi? (5)

”[…]
Nel suo viaggio a Venezia, Proust soggiornò all’Hotel Europa (e non al Danieli come sostiene Painter), che era ubicato nel Palazzo Giustiniani ove oggi ha sede l’Università Ca’ Foscari.
[…]
A differenza di Painter, Tadié è andato a controllare i registri del Danieli e Proust non risulta, mentre compare nei registri dell’Hotel Europa. […]”

a proposito di
Queer Ship, di Federico Boccaccini. 1: Chi siamo noi. Solo su FN

■ infn ■ → Queer Ship → 1: Chi siamo noi? (4)

”[…] Heinz Neddermeyer was a German citizen born about 1915. He is also considered to be the first great love of writer Christopher Isherwood. Heinz and Christopher met in Berlin on March 13, 1932 when Heinz was 17. Christopher would often describe their relationship as an adoption, being the Heinz was so much younger and not entirely mature. The couple lived together in Berlin until May 1933 when, due to the uprising of Hitler, they were forced to flee the country. The photograph at right is of Heinz (left) and Christopher (right) during this time. They traveled Europe and North Africa until May 12, 1937 when Heinz was expelled from Luxembourg and forced to return to Germany. The next day he was arrested by the Gestapo and sentenced to three and half years of forced labor and military service. He survived the forced labor which was brief. Being conditionally free, he married a woman named Gerda in 1938 and had a son named Christian, his only child, in 1940.

It was not uncommon for gay men to turn this drastic turn in their lives after being arrested and sentenced to prison by the Nazi party. See the life of Pierre Seel as an excellent, and almost completely parallel, example. Although the two continued to correspond, Heinz would not see Christopher again until November of 1952 while Christopher was visiting England and Germany for productions of his “Berlin Stories”.

In November 1956 Christopher received a note from Heinz stating that he had been in a political argument at the factory where he worked in East Berlin. Fearing arrest, he fled to Hamburg. Christopher sent him some money. Nothing else is mentioned of Heinz in Christopher’s diaries other then fond memories of their past in various cities around Europe and a kind note from Heinz when Christopher’s mother passed away in August of 1960. […]”

a proposito di

Queer Ship, di Federico Boccaccini. 1: Chi siamo noi. Solo su FN

■ infn ■ → Queer Ship → 1: Chi siamo noi? (2)

”[…]

Perché è importante oggi parlare di una letteratura che fuoriesce dai confini delle rappresentazioni nazionali? Per molto tempo si è detto: -non solo non vi è una patria comune, ma non vi è né lingua qui, né storia comune di popolo. Di quale letteratura parlate, voi?-. Si è cercato così di neutralizzare la questione sostenendo che la letteratura gay non esista, esistono solo dei bravi e dei cattivi scrittori.

Il critico dallo sguardo benevolo ci spiega che non è tanto importante il fatto che il tale o il tal altro poeta andava in giro di notte a cercar fanciulli, ma l’universalità e la bellezza della sua poesia. Va bene, ma cosa, di grazia, racconta la sua poesia? Il fatto che di notte andasse in giro a cercar fanciulli. E succede, ad esempio, che questa «ricerca» è raccontata da molti, poco importa la lingua, il paese, la storia che si ha alle spalle. […]”

Queer Ship, di Federico Boccaccini. 1: Chi siamo noi. Solo su FN

Elliot Edizioni: Joseph Hansen - Scomparso

■ infn ■ → Joseph Hansen → ( @Elliotedizioni ) → 5

elliotedizioni:

Una nebbia fitta nascondeva alla vista il canyon chiuso su tre lati sul quale si affacciava una cittadina di ranch di nome Pima, in California. Pioveva. Non una pioggia intensa, ma incessante, grigia e tetra. Le chiome folte dei pini emergevano dalla foschia come presenze minacciose. I platani…

Intorno a  Joseph Hansen, DAVE BRANDSTETTER MYSTERIES, di Federico Boccaccini, solo su FN

■ infn ■ → Joseph Hansen → ( @Elliotedizioni ) → 4

”[…] This second book in Joseph Hansen’s groundbreaking, critically acclaimed Dave Brandstetter mystery series find’s Dave sifting through the elaborate lies surrounding the murder of John Oats, who’s drugged body was found washed up on the beach. Left behind are April Stannard, John’s lover, and his son Peter, who was the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. The trouble is, Peter is missing. […]”

Intorno a  Joseph Hansen, DAVE BRANDSTETTER MYSTERIES, di Federico Boccaccini, solo su FN

■ infn ■ → Joseph Hansen → ( @Elliotedizioni ) → 3

”[…] Joseph Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter series of detective novels spanned 21 years and 12 books, earning him the 1992 Lifetime Achievment Award from the Private Eye Writers of America. Fadeout, the first of his novels, published in 1970, introduces the character of Dave Brandstetter, a hard-boiled insurance investigator, who doesn’t believe that a folksinger whose car was found smashed in an arroyo is really dead. What makes the Brandstetter series even more remarkable-apart from the exceptional writing, which earned Hansen comparisons to Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald, and Raymond Chandler-is that Dave Brandstetter was openly, comfortably, and thoroughly unstereotypically gay. In 1999 this is notable; in 1970 it was extraordinary. Alyson is pleased to reintroduce this landmark, groundbreaking series, long out of print, to a new audience. […]”

Intorno a  Joseph Hansen, DAVE BRANDSTETTER MYSTERIES, di Federico Boccaccini, solo su FN

■ infn ■ → Joseph Hansen → ( @Elliotedizioni ) → 2

”[…] Alcuni titoli di Hansens furono pubblicati da Mondadori nei Gialli, con titoli strampalati; Skinflick: La ragazza del Sunset Strip, 1794/1981; The little dog laughed: Silenzio di piombo, 2088/1989; The boy who was buried this morning: Partita con la morte, 2251/1992; A country of old men: Omicidio a tempo di rock, 2336/1993 […]”

Intorno a  Joseph Hansen, DAVE BRANDSTETTER MYSTERIES, di Federico Boccaccini, solo su FN

■ infn ■ → Joseph Hansen → ( @Elliotedizioni ) → 1

”[…]
Dave Brandstetter è lontano dagli investigatori infallibili di scuola inglese alla Poirot o alla Sherlock Holmes, dove il delitto è un gioco di sfida con il lettore basato sulla ricerca di indizi per scoprire l’assassino prima dell’ultima pagina. Ma si discosta anche dalla tradizione americana classica dei duri alla Sam Spade o alla Philipp Marlowe.
Brandstetter è diverso, e lo è perché è consapevolmente e dichiaratamente omosessuale. Dobbiamo immaginare un personaggio di Simenon scivolato tra le pagine di Camere separate di Tondelli.
L’opera di Hansen non è importante solo perché introduce un protagonista maschile inconsueto per le detective-stories dell’epoca, ma soprattutto perché racconta la vita gay nell’America degli anni Settanta e Ottanta dal suo interno attraverso la voce di diversi personaggi con cui il protagonista si deve confrontare ad ogni nuovo caso, secondo il modulo della serialità che ci fa scoprire e affezionare a questo personaggio un poco alla volta e che permette allo scrittore di presentare in ogni romanzo un diverso colore dello spettro secondo il fil rouge dell’omosessualità.
La scatola vuota è ora riempita di dolore, ora di speranza, ora d’ironia.[…]”

da Joseph Hansen, DAVE BRANDSTETTER MYSTERIES, di Federico Boccaccini, solo su FN

■ infn ■ → Gore Vidal → The City and the Pillar → cover → (6)

”[…] These views of The City and the Pillar show the variety of ways that publishers around the world and over time have represented the novel’s story, character and themes. In the row above, the French first edition, not surprisingly, chose neutrality for its cover and renamed the novel “A Young Man by the River.” In France in the 1980s, the title remained the same as the first French edition, but the cover became somewhat more true to the novel’s content, although with a classical bent. The Dutch first edition, “The Fortress and the Pillar of Salt,” captured a sense of the central character’s isolation. Two more Dutch editions, with different titles, and by different translators, followed in the next 30 years. In the 21st Century, translations of the book appeared in a changing Russia and a largely unchanged Arabic-speaking Middle East. […] Below, the Polish edition of The City and the Pillar depicts a nude man in an abstract and somewhat unnatural position. The text contains half a dozen similarly posed figures at the end of chapters where space permits, and the title means “don’t look back at Sodom.” The Spanish edition features a photo of Vidal from the 1940s - the same photo used on the cover of the 1995 American reissue of the novel. The images on the cover of the German first edition refer to Jim Willard’s Hollywood life as a tennis instructor but not to the novel’s sexuality, although the German title, which means “closed circle,” recognizes Jim’s story as a tragic Bildungsroman that ultimate brings him back to where he began. The discreet Brazilian edition merely depicts two figures locked in a Greco-Roman wrestling pose. Finally, as the world changes, Vidal’s reception grows. Who would ever have thought this book would appear in Russia or the Arabic-speaking world. And yet, in the 21st Century, they did. […]”

(sul sito della University of Pittsburg, una rassegna di moltissime -tutte?- copertine delle traduzioni di The City and the Pillar, comprese quelle italiane)

(l’edizione dei Elmo editore compare dotata di fascetta editoriale che recita: “Il dramma del terzo sesso”)

A proposito di Gore Vidal, materiali per una bibliografia italiana (1bis)

(Fonte: pitt.edu)

■ infn ■ → Gore Vidal → The City and the Pillar → cover → (5)

”[…] My version of the cover for Gore Vidal’s novel. A personal work. In the collage were used engravings by Gustave Doré. […]”

A proposito di Gore Vidal, materiali per una bibliografia italiana (1bis)

■ infn ■ → Gore Vidal → The City and the Pillar → cover → (4)

He wrote his first book at 19 – Williwaw. His third novel, The City and the Pillar, featured a homosexual as a main character and bookshops refused to stock it. He was even forced to work under pseudonyms during the 1950s. He is also well known for his satire, Myra Breckinridge, and the historical novel, Lincoln.

A proposito di Gore Vidal, materiali per una bibliografia italiana (1bis)

■ infn ■ → Gore Vidal → The City and the Pillar → cover → (3)

”[…] 1950; The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal. Cover art by James Avati […]”

A proposito di Gore Vidal, materiali per una bibliografia italiana (1bis)

■ infn ■ → Gore Vidal → The City and the Pillar → cover → (2)

A proposito di Gore Vidal, materiali per una bibliografia italiana (1bis)

■ infn ■ → Gore Vidal → The City and the Pillar → cover → (1)

menotaur2:

John was angry. “Well, that’s more than you do and you’re older than me. You don’t ever go out with girls.
I heard Sally say once she thought you were the best-looking guy in the school and she couldn’t understand why you didn’t go around more. She said she thought you were afraid of girls.”
Jim flushed. “She’s full of crap. I’m not afraid of her or anybody. Besides, I do my traveling on the other side of town.”
“Really?” John was interested and Jim was glad he had lied.
“Sure.” He was mysterious. “Bob and me go over there lots of times. All the baseball team does, too.
We don’t want to mess around with ‘nice’ girls.”
“I guess not.”
“Besides, Sally isn’t so fast.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”
“I’ll bet Bob Ford said that about her.”
Jim fixed the top of his bureau, ignoring his brother.
He was ill at ease and didn’t know why; it was seldom that John could irritate him.
Jim looked at the dusty mirror above his bureau and wondered if he needed his weekly shave. He decided he could wait till he got back. Absently he ran his hand over his short blond hair, glad that it was summer, the season of short hair. Was he handsome? His features were perfectly ordinary, he thought; only his body pleased him, the result of much exercise.
~ The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal (October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012)

A proposito di Gore Vidal, materiali per una bibliografia italiana (1bis)

■ infn ■ → Gore Vidal → (6)

seagullhair:

New Seagull blog post! Shaun SureThing remembers Gore Vidal’s greatness.

A proposito di Gore Vidal, materiali per una bibliografia italiana (1bis)