Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 183 - Lion Books

Acquired Tastes XLIII 

Gay Pulp Fiction

Part 183

Lion Books

Lion Books began in 1949 as Red Circle Books, part of the Martin Goodman publishing empire which  included such pulp magazines as For Men Only, Stag and Movie World, as well as various pulp fiction novels and the early version of Marvel Comics. As the market for pulp magazines waned,  in 1947, Martin Goodman publishing transitioned to comic books and conventional magazines, publishing them through an entity called Magazine Management Company and in 1949, founded Lion Books, a paperback line. Goodman used the name Red Circle Books for the first seven titles plus two additional later. Most were novels, but there was a smattering of sports-oriented and biographical nonfiction. Goodman eventually developed two lines, the 25¢ Lion and the 35¢ Lion Library. 

Lion Books was born under the editorship of Arnold Hano. After Hano was discharged from military service, he returned to New York and a career in book publishing, first as managing editor with Bantam Books (1947–49), and then as editor-in-chief with Lion Books (1949–54). In 1951, Hano debuted as an author with the baseball-themed young adult novel, The Big Out, described by The New York Times' reviewer Ralph Adams Brown as "one of the most thrilling sports novels this reviewer has ever read." In 1954, he left Lion Books after a company-wide 10% pay cut imposed by Martin Goodman.

 Lion Books published early novels by Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, Day Keene, Shirley Jackson and many other authors who went on to popular or cult success. They only lasted for nine years, but during that time at least a third of their books were noir reprints and originals. New American Library bought Lion in 1957, and several Lion titles were reprinted under its Signet label.  Today, Lion Books represents part of the golden age of the paperback.

Among their titles, a few gay-oriented or of gay interest novels - pretty daring stuff, given the times. If I've missed any gay titles that they published, please let me know; leave them in the comments section.

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Twilight Men

Author: Andre Tellier

Cover Art: Stella Lincoln

Lion Books

(Originally published in 1931 as Hommes du Crépuscule)

#24

February, 1950

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The Dark Tunnel

Author: Kenneth Millar

Lion Books

Cover Art: E. Walter

#48

November, 1950

(Originally published in 1944 as I Die Slowly)

Kenneth Millar would go on to great success using the pseudonym Ross Macdonald. An American-Canadian writer of crime fiction, he is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featuring private detective Lew Archer. Among his most successful,  The Moving Target, filmed in 1966 as Harper, starring  Paul Newman and Lauren Bacall ; The Drowning Pool, which was made into a motion picture in 1975, starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward; and Blue City which was made into a motion picture in 1986 starring Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy.

 

Back Cover

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Half

Author: Jordan Park

Lion Books

#135

April 1953

Jordan Park is the pseudonym of popular science fiction writer Cyril Kornbluth. He was a member of a New York-based literary circle known as The Futurians, who were a major force in the development of science fiction writing and science fiction fandom in the years 1937–1945.

This appears to be the story of a hermaphrodite. 

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The Heart In Exile

Author: Rodney Garland

Cover Art: Arthur Shilstone

Lion Books

LL 76

February 1956

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The Troubled Midnight

Author: Rodney Garland

Cover Art: Charles Copeland

Lion Books

LL 128

November 1956

Based on the the true story of gay spy Guy Burgess.

From Wikipedia:

"Late in 1935, Guy Burgess accepted a temporary post as personal assistant to John Macnamara, the recently-elected Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelmsford. Macnamara was on the right of his party; he and Burgess joined the Anglo-German Fellowship, which promoted friendship with Nazi Germany. This enabled Burgess to disguise his political  and personal past very effectively, while gathering important information about Germany's foreign policy intentions. Within the Fellowship, Burgess would proclaim fascism as "the wave of the future", although in other forums such as the Apostles he was more circumspect. The association with Macnamara involved several trips to Germany; some, by Burgess' own later version of events, of a decidedly dissolute nature - both men were gay and sexually active. These stories, according to the historian Michael Holzman, may have been invented or exaggerated to draw attention away from Burgess' true motives.

In the autumn of 1936, Burgess met the nineteen-year-old Jack Hewit in The Bunch of Grapes, a well-known gay bar in The Strand. Hewit, a would-be dancer seeking work in London's musical theatres, would be Burgess's friend, manservant and intermittent lover for the next fourteen years, generally sharing Burgess' various London homes: Chester Square from 1936 to 1941, Bentinck Street from 1941 to 1947 and New Bond Street from 1947 until 1951."

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And that's all for now.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading!

Hearts In Exile - The Homosexuals