Description
Published well ahead of its time, in 1966 by Greenleaf Classics, Song of the Loon is a lusty gay frontier romance that tells the story of Ephraim MacIver, a 19th-century outdoorsman, and his travels through the American wilderness, where he meets a number of characters who share with him stories, wisdom and homosexual encounters. The most popular erotic gay book of the 1960s, Song of the Loon was the inspiration for two sequels, a 1970 film of the same name, at least one porn movie, and a parody novel. Unique among pulp novels of the time, the gay characters in Song of the Loon are strong and romantically drawn, traits which have earned the book a place in the canon of gay American literature.
With an introduction by Michael Bronski, author of Pulp Friction and The Pleasure Principle.
"Song of the Loon--the novel, not the skittish film version thereof--changed my fantasy life forever. My friends have never understood why I drag them on canoe trips, dash naked into rivers and recite poetry to them at the drop of a hat. Arsenal Pulp is making an inestimable contribution in bringing Richard Amory's monumental novel back into print after these momentous decades, just in time to replace my tattered original edition that is still handy beside my bed after forty years. Michael Bronski's comprehensive introduction is an important bonus, a superb delineation of the historical and literary context. Of course the New Age flakiness has dated as much as the dubious native ethnography, but that's part of its magic, and this new edition is certain to have the same impact on the today's generations of queer young cowboys as it did on mine. "
-Thomas Waugh, author of Hard to Imagine, Out/Lines, and Lust Unearthed
Now in its second printing
Reviews
This charming, delightfully queer pastoral comes to us care of the Little Sister's Classics . . . .
- Xtra! Toronto
-Xtra! Toronto
The Song of the Loon was originally published in 1966 and is remarkable not just for the success (there were two sequels and a movie) but for the fact that in a time when gay liberation was focussed primarily on sexual freedom, Song of the Loon is a frontier romance.
- Wayves
-Wayves
Song of the Loon reminded me that while all books are books, some books are even more history. ... In its sweetly euphoric way, Loon announced the Summer of Love, and envisioned elements that were to become typical of gay culture in its first flowering, liberation phase.
- Xtra! West
-Xtra! West
The reprint of the book, written by a former San Jose resident and teacher, is being hailed by historians as a reclamation of "an integral part of gay pop culture history. "
- San Jose Mercury News
-San Jose Mercury News
Arsenal Pulp and Little Sister's should be praised for bringing back Song of the Loon . .. it belongs in every gay man's library.
- TWN
-TWN
A charming, delightfully queer pastoral. ... Amory heralded the advent of a gay literary culture independent of heterosexual control or interference.
- Gay & Lesbian Reviw
-Gay & Lesbian Review
One of the most important gay books of the 20th century . .. Song of the Loon is back in print, in a handsome edition published by Vancouver's Arsenal Pulp Press as part of its Little Sister's line of lesbian and gay classics. It certainly deserves the honor.
- The Bilerico Project
-The Bilerico Project blog