Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 59 - Cast A Wistful Eye by Carl Corley

Acquired Tastes XLIII 

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 59 

Cast A Wistful Eye by Carl Corley

...I stand, and cast a wistful eye,

To Canaan's far and happy land

Where my possessions lie...

Those stanzas are from On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand, the hymn The Salvation Army plays each time they visit Jackson Square, serving as a constant and painful reminder for the protagonist in Carl Corley's lushly atmospheric Cast A Wistful Eye.  

In my experience, a writer is only as good as his editor. And when it comes to vintage gay pulp fiction? Conscientious editors must have been few and far between. But then considering that most of these publishers were already flying by the seat of their pants due to the censorship laws in place at the time, there was a certain urgency involved getting product to market, that was probably not a top consideration. Also, keep in mind the times in terms of technology; writing on a typewriter is a lot more difficult than doing so on a laptop. Editing on a typewriter? Messy and problematic. So there's a number of reasons many vintage gay pulp novels read as if they went straight from the page to print - because, most likely, they were only typed once - as in, no editing, no corrections. 

Therefore, the quality of this product ended up being solely dependent on the talents of the writers. In many cases? That turned out to be a no win situation. 

Just last week, I mentioned a biographer's opinion on the writing of Ron Haydock (Vin Saxon), "Haydock’s writing is fairly amateurish and in desperate need of an editor. The narration is littered with sentence fragments and exclamation points as an indicator of something exciting happening. ...the whole thing felt very rushed and poorly outlined."

Based on my rather limited experience? I would have to say that's generally true of most vintage gay pulp fiction novels. 

Carl Corley? 

He's an exception. 

The man can write; at times as dazzling as anything Tennessee Williams ever penned. And he writes what he knows. Reading his Cast A Wistful Eye? One could draw a map of The French Quarter of New Orleans based on the author's detailed descriptions. Colorful and intoxicating, his words easily embody and capture the flavor the city, as they glide past your eyes and go down as smooth as a Sazerac cocktail. 

Published in 1968, as part of Publisher's Export Company's French Line imprint, the book is filled with fashion and décor references creating a very credible time machine. Such allusions, in lesser hands, frequently feel like awkward, unwarranted additions, but Corley deftly utilizes them as a means of establishing a scene's tone. 

 

The plot centers on the new life in New Orleans chosen by a country boy named Mel Marcel, who leaves the family farm when a local goodtime gal becomes pregnant and names him the father. Believing fatherhood and marriage are not in the cards for him, Mel spends what little money he has on a bus ticket out of town. After a few weeks, finding himself penniless in The Big Easy, he succumbs to the lurid lure and quick cash hustling can bring. 

Corley ably plants the reader at the center of Jackson Square where they are quickly acclimated to its customs, as well as the ebb and flow of human detritus which occupies it. Lonely, Mel makes fast friends with a fellow hustler and kindred soul; a drugstore cowboy named Rusty. 

The two spend the first half of the book turning tricks, but only on their terms. They don't mind a man swingin' on their root if the lettuce is right. Afterall, they need money in order to score with the quail - for that's what both these hustlers' really go for - women!

The second half of the book deals with Mel's turn of good fortune in the form of two sugar daddies and a legitimate job as the onstage dance partner of a Japanese drag queen. Each of these opportunities are recklessly destroyed, thanks to Rusty's continuing influence and presence in Mel's life. One would think this would cause Mel to reconsider Rusty as a friend, but the young hustler's developing feelings for the faux cowboy make that all but impossible. 

Throughout the book, we are treated to a parade of characters and locales in the fabled Crescent City. Corley's description of the madness that is Mardis Gras, as Mel searches for a disappeared Rusty, is nothing short of brilliant. The author's purpose here is not to charm the reader or titillate them with saucy sexual encounters (actual descriptions of sex are non-existent), rather, his is to inform the reader of the tough realities hustlers like Mel and Rusty face as they drift through life without focus, purpose or an endgame defined. A mist of dread and  hopelessness hang over the entire proceedings like the heavy Spanish moss which grows on the city's oaks. 

Is the book perfect? No. 

Corley could have used an editor. One of the things an editor would have pointed out? His overuse of the word 'anarchic'; I believe it appears at least a dozen times, in the same context. An editor might also have helped him firm up and give shape to a few of his less focused passages. But my quibbles with the writing? Minor. This book has style and breadth. Cinematic in scope, it's easy to imagine it as movie in the tradition of Midnight Cowboy (which this book predates by a full year.) 

So far, this is the finest vintage gay pulp novel from this time period that I have read. That said, I think it works fine as a novel on any playing field, for Corley doesn't simply write plot points, he fleshes out the very air until it's fully tangible. At one point, a distraught and penniless Mel seeks refuge in a bar owned by a hulking lesbian. The description of the scene that follows - and this may, indeed, be overselling it - rivals anything Steinbeck has written. 

So, I heartily encourage you to give this novel a read. Copies go for $120 on eBay, if you can find one. Or... you can do so in the form of a FlipHTML Book, for free at Carl Corley: Gay Pulp In The Deep South, a beautiful website dedicated to Corley's works designed and maintained by librarian Hannah Givens.

Cast A Wistful Eye is a quick, high-quality read and a slice of gay history that needs and deserves to be appreciated. 

On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand - Martha Reed Garvin