Slashed to Ribbons In Defense of Love and Other Stories
New York: Gay Presses of New York, 1982. 1st Edition. Octavo, publisher’s stiff illustrated paper wraps.
Presentation copy first edition of queer author and critic Felice Picano’s debut short story collection, inscribed by him to George Stambolian. The author of more than thirty works spanning a variety of genres, Picano is considered a pioneer of modern gay literature, playing a pivotal role as a founding member of the Violet Quill (alongside Robert Ferro, Edmund White, Andrew Holleran, and others), along with founding SeaHorse Press and the Gay Presses of New York. A French professor and editor central to the early gay literary movement, Stambolian is best known for his Men On Men anthologies, collections of gay male fiction published in the 1980s and early 90s featuring work by Picano, Holleran, and Edmund White, among other emerging gay writers. Stambolian played a pivotal role in legitimizing gay literature as a recognized literary field, and was a mentor to many of the writers of the generation that followed. Writing about the AIDS crisis, Picano said that Stambolian was his "last close friend in Manhattan"; Picano was one of Stambolian's caretakers when he died from AIDS-related complications in 1991. Inscribed by Picano in brown ink to title page: "For George – / My stories (not textes!) / 12/83 / Felice [with printed name crossed out]." Published simultaneously in hardcvoer and paperback (as here). Light foxing to edges of textblock, light soiling to wraps. A very good copy with an exceptional presentation inscription. Item #11818
$200.00