The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions
New York: Calamus Books, 1977. 2nd Printing. Octavo, publisher’s stiff illustrated paper wraps, red endpapers.
Second printing (issued the same year as the first) of queer author and publisher Larry Mitchell’s cult fantasy novel with illustrations by Ned Asta. Written during the post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS era, the story unfolds in Ramrod, a declining dystopian empire where faggots, dykes, queens, queers, and women are fighting against heteropatriarchal control. Intended to be a children’s book, the text was inspired by Mitchell and Asta’s experiences with collective living in the late 1960s and early 70s at queer commune Lavender Hill in Ithaca, New York. Out-of-print for decades, the text was predominantly disseminated as a PDF across queer activist websites and forums until it was reissued by Nightboat Books in 2019. Published by Mitchell’s Calamus Books, a small press devoted to gay male literature. Cheekily Illustrated throughout with Asta's Aubrey Beardsley-inspired drawings. Some soiling and shelfwear to edges of textblock, moderate rubbing and edgewear to wraps. About very good. Item #12950
$400.00