Some "Picnic" tidbits

A tip of the hat to Lee Levine, who advises that Turner Movie Classics will screen the movie version of William Inge's Picnic (the play we'll discuss via Zoom on Feb. 25) this Thursday, Feb. 5, at 8:30 p.m.

Lee, our movie maven, notes: "'Picnic' was nominated for six Oscars and won two. (Not for William Holden's chest, heh heh.) Having seen both the movie and play, I can attest that it depends upon the staging as to which medium stresses more the homoerotic elements of the material."

Lee also pointed me to the following 1992 commentary by actress Kim Stanley about the playwright: "Let me tell you something about Bill Inge. This is what I tell my students, most of whom arrive having decided that he's old and tired and out of style and dishonest. Inge is one of the most honest of playwrights--straight and simple in his style. This may make him seem less literary, less daunting, than some of his peers, but you cannot say that his plays are not honest. Are they fully honest in the presentation of his own autobiography? No. Bill could never be fully honest about his own sexuality, so I think a lot of people fault him for not writing an inverted character in his plays who could represent him, but I always point out that he DID write such characters in his plays, and the fringe witness that was Bill Inge is in those plays.

"You can knock Bill for his style, and you can knock him because the place from which he hailed wasn't a place that inspires your dreams, but the primary reason that people can't embrace Bill Inge or the primary reason that they chuckle and dismiss him is because he forces you to remember what physical attraction and physical love can and should do to you, and what the lack of this same chemical magic can and will do to you. We cannot go through this world alone, and the dreams and the fantasies will grow old and, like our prescriptions for drugs and alcohol, will have to be continually and dangerously raised in order for them to have any effect. We need other people--one wonderful other person--to make ourselves whole. That was his belief. That was his dream. That was what he never achieved.

"I cannot believe that this theme does not resonate within everyone, so I am always angry and amazed when Bill's plays are produced and there is this chorus of disbelief about the subject matter. Admit it: You lack the love or you lost the love or you destroyed the love. That's hard to do, but that's what you are confessing when you submit to the plays of Bill Inge."--Kim Stanley/Interview with James Grissom/1992

The Celluloid Closet online

Good news, friends: Robert Muir found a PDF copy of our next selection online: The-Celluloid-Closet.pdf. (Coincidentally, it’s the same edition I own.) Bless you, Robert!

LGBTQ+ Lit at home...

Several BookMen (Grant Thompson, Brian Doyle, Stuart Sotsky, Ted Coltman and moi) had the pleasure of attending Thomas Mallon's appearance at the Cosmos Club last Tuesday to promote his new memoir, The Very Heart of It: New York Diaries, 1983-1994.

You may recall that last fall, I nominated the book for our current reading list. It got some votes, but didn't quite make the cut.

I nominated it largely on the strength of his most famous novel, Fellow Travelers, which we discussed back in 2008. (It was later adapted into an opera and a Paramount limited TV series, both quite enjoyable in different ways.) Now that I actually have the book in hand (which the author kindly autographed for me after the luncheon), and have read the opening section (1983), however, I think we dodged a bullet.

That's not because the book is dull or flawed in any way; Mallon is a fine writer, and I have every intention of finishing it. Rather, I think it would have been difficult to conduct a satisfying discussion of a succession of diary entries--something I probably should have anticipated when deciding whether to nominate it. Mea culpa.

...and Down Under

As most of you know, I was in Sydney, Australia, earlier this month. Wherever there is an LGBTQ bookstore in a city I’m visiting, I try to patronize it, but my timing was off in this case, alas. After 43 years, The Bookshop Darlinghurst, Sydney’s oldest gay bookstore, closed its shop last month, though it still operates online.

Fortunately, I found another option: Gleebooks, which doesn’t only purvey LGBTQ literature, but is primarily known for that. Like Kramerbooks here in D.C., it has a restaurant, Cafe Sappho, but that was still closed for the holidays despite the website’s assurance that it was open.

After perusing the shelves, I selected Typewriter Music, a 2007 poetry anthology by David Malouf. Malouf is one of the few names I recognized, though I can’t remember where I’ve read his “Seven Last Words of the Emperor Hadrian,” which is included in this collection. (Quite possibly, it was in one of the anthologies we've read over the years. If any of you recall, please refresh my memory.)

Comprised of short poems, the slender volume seemed like a good choice for the long trip home, and it was.

Hitching to Bowie

Lee Levine offers the following comment on "Betrayed by David Bowie," one of the short stories by Lev Raphael we'll be discussing this Wednesday.

"Of this set of short stories, my favorite is 'Betrayed by David Bowie.' Here's a gay Jewish guy bonding with another gay Jewish guy in the Seventies over David Bowie's music.

Well, my straight Jewish high school classmate, a Howard Lee like myself, published a paperback novel last summer called Hitching to Bowie: A 70's Road Trip Tale of Music, Miles and Discovery. In the book the author Howard Lee Kramer (then a college student) bonds with his identical twin brother (also straight) over Bowie's music. HL had hitched to the concert and got a lift from, among numerous types, a nascent gay activist who explains the budding gay rights movement to his straight passenger who admits to coming away enlightened.

I think the writings, the short story and the later novel, can be read as corollaries. The book does seem to supplement much of Lev Raphael's tale.

By coincidence, I bumped into this classmate just this afternoon in the cafe at Politics and Prose. We hadn't seen each other since before Covid, and we caught up. He tried to sell me a copy of the book, which the attached picture will prove I had previously purchased."

Don't get any ideas from this! :-)

Even we semi-benevolent despots have a sense of humor:

Mike Mazza's notes on "Falconer"

As always, I'm truly grateful to Mike Mazza for sharing his extensive, detailed notes on John Cheever's Falconer, which he nominated for our reading list. He'll also guest-faciitate the Jan. 7 meeting where we'll discuss the novel.

Mike comments: "Why I nominated this book for the book club: I had read this book many years ago while deployed to Afghanistan, and I remembered it as being a very tender and moving account of same-sex love. Also, Cheever is a major American author who is known to have been bisexual."

His overall assessment: "A really haunting and oddly beautiful book about broken, and seemingly hopeless, people. The story has a grimy granularity; it is saturated with the stench and frailty of the human body."

"This book made quite an impression on me! In addition to my usual overall thoughts and chapter summaries, these notes include some other features, including a thematic commentary and a character breakdown."

—The narrative is often very bleak and tragic, but there is an empathy and even a tenderness that shine through. There is also a surreal and absurdist vein running throughout the novel, along with rich layers of symbolism and satire.

—Similar in tone and subject matter to Hubert Selby’s Last Exit to Brooklyn and John Rechy’s City of Night.

—A fascinating look into an all- male institutional environment; reminds me of Gore Vidal’s portrait of an Army water vessel crew in Williwaw.

—An interesting look at sexual orientation, love and desire in a post-WW2 U.S. setting. A reflection on the place of “queers” in society.

—Irony: these men are literally in prison, and they are psychologically imprisoned by society’s conventions of heterosexism and masculinity.

—Also significant is the book’s portrayal of drug addiction.

Important themes

—class; socioeconomic status: p. 58.

—violence, brutality, inhumanity.

—connection between inmates and nonhuman living things: cats, trees, birds; p. 72.

—sexual orientation and desire: p. 85, 104.

—the policing structures of society: religion, government, academia, law, medical profession; how they interact with and reinforce each other; note the satirization of these structures, and in particular their impact on men who have sex with other men.

Characters

—Farragut (p. 1): inmate who committed fratricide. Former professor; has abused drugs. Army veteran (p. 12). First name is Ezekiel; called Zeke by his wife: p. 104.

—Tiny: obese guard assigned to cell block F: p. 6

—Chicken Number Two: p. 7. Skinny Block 4 inmate. A singer; claims to be tattooed. His tattoos later revealed and described.

—Marcia: Farragut’s wife: p. 9.

—Sally Midland: Marcia’s partner in crewelwork (embroidery); Farragut catches the women embracing: p. 16.

—The Stone: a member of Farragut’s “family group” in Block F; made deaf by ice pick; carries a hearing machine: p. 24.

—Tennis: Block F resident in for check fraud; discusses his past athletic career: 25.

—The Cuckold: an inmate. Later opens up to Farragut in a powerful way.

—Bandit: jailhouse cat of whom Farragut is fond: p. 31.

—Eben: Farragut’s brother; p. 40. Worked as an executive for a charitable foundation: p. 168.

—Chisholm: the deputy warden; one of the “assholes”: p. 43

—Jody: Farragut’s best friend in Falconer: p. 73. Later his lover.

—Pete: Farragut’s son: p. 102.

—DiMatteo: “the chaplain’s dude”; helps Jody escape: p. 118.

—Marshack: a sergeant on the Falconer staff; shaved head: p. 122. Keeps hanging plants in his office.

—Veronica: ugly male nurse.

—Carrie: Eben’s wife, and thus Farragut’s sister-in-law; parent, with Eben, to a son and a daughter: p. 169.

Interesting details

—enameling of bars worn off: p. 3.

—chicken-wired windows in visitation room: p. 9.

—maple trees within prison grounds: p. 71.

—squeak of Jody’s sneakers: p. 84.

—detail, from the Cuckold’s story, of the lonely man eating London broil in a Chinese restaurant.

—prison staff member Marshack’s shaved skull and its significance: p. 123.

—poignancy of the many hanging plants in the office of stressed-out Marshack: p. 125.

Memorable/important passages

—There has to be something good at the end of every journey: p. 7.

—Farragut’s citation of the Italian artist Piranesi: p. 11. Cellblock F as a forgotten place.

My note: theory of liminal places.

—Whitmanesque description of “the Valley,” a latrine used for masturbation: p. 100.

—poetic meditation on time: p. 107.

—comic and tragic address to Santa and Mrs. Claus for Christmas portrait.

—Eben’s tragic, troubled household as a microcosm for “organized society”; p. 169.

Note: The citations (e.g., loc 78, 8%, etc.) below refer to the Kindle edition, not the paperback.

Opening section

—Farragut arrives with other convicts at the prison. He goes through intake process.

—Tiny explains cell block F to Farragut: p. 6.

—Block F, and whole prison, described as shabby, disorderly and malodorous: p. 6.

(Unnumbered, untitled section starts at p. 9, 5%)

—Farragut visited by his wife.

—flashback to Farragut’s life with his wife, Marcia: p. 16.

—Marcia’s apparent amorous embrace of her female friend Sally Midland: p. 16.

—odd note about gendered tools in Ireland: p. 17.

—Does Farragut have a homosexual interest in his friend Chucky Drew?: p. 18.

—Farragut and Marcia discuss the treatment of his drug addiction while he is incarcerated: p. 19.

—Marcia’s work as an artist; a painter: p. 23. Her lack of success and her abuse of Farragut’s checking account.

—Farragut’s “family group” in Cell Block F: p. 24.

—WW2 memories: p. 30.

—Report of Tiny’s violence against two cats: p. 30.

—The cats of Falconer: p. 31.

—killing of cats by guards: p. 33.

(Unnumbered, untitled section starts at p. 35, 19%)

—Wartime origin of Farragut’s drug addiction: p. 35.

—Farragut’s teaching career: p. 35.

—news coverage of murderess: p. 38. Her Frankenstein-like atrocities in a serene suburban setting.

—Farragut’s heroin addiction; it’s damage to his heart: p. 40.

—a “withdrawal show” (due to Farragut not getting his meth adone): p. 43. Note details of his withdrawal symptoms.

—Farragut’s memories of his mother: p. 45.

—Polly: another drug addict; remembered by Farragut in prison: p. 46.

—Farragut’s memories of his neglectful father: p. 48.

—Farragut’s leadership of the Nanuet Cotillion; connection to colonial American history: p. 48.

—suicide threat from Farragut’s father remembered: p. 50.

—Farragut speculates in suing the prison due to the abusive methadone denial: p. 53.

—Farragut’s consultation with lawyer: 55. He steals a pen from the lawyer and hides it in his rectum: p. 56.

—moved to a new cell, Farragut is desperate to write down his complaint against deputy warden Chisholm: p. 57. He writes on his stiff bedsheet.

My note: a sequence rich in meaning.

— Farragut writes to multiple people; this section starts to drag.

(Unnumbered, untitled section starts at p. 70; 38%.)

—announcement of banking class for inmates.

—Farragut’s interest in birds: p. 72.

—red-winged blackbirds.

—Farragut meets Jody, who shows Farragut his hideout in an abandoned water tower: p. 73.

—Jody tells Farragut the story of his crime: kidnapping and burglary: p. 76.

—Farragut’s prison work as typist and greenhouse crew worker: p. 77.

—Farragut and Jody become lovers; irony that Jody considers Farragut to not be “homosexual.”

—Jody’s detailed monologue on smiling: p. 79.

—Jody’s critique of the Fiduciary University prison program.

—Tiny talks to Farragut and claims that Jody is sexually promiscuous; tells of a “fan dance”: p. 81.

—Jody tells Farragut of his plan to escape using a planned Catholic mass, connected to the Fiduciary U graduation ceremony, as a cover: p. 82.

—my note: Jody’s escape plan involves the juncture of three institutions: prison, church and academia.

—Farragut reflects on his own sexuality and feelings toward women: p. 86.

—He reflects on the place of “queers” in society: p. 87.

—The Cuckold tells Farragut about his own homosexual experience: p. 94.

—The story of the Cuckold’s encounters with a young hustler named Michael: pp. 94-98. My note: very similar in tone and subject matter to John Rechy’s City of Night.

—The Cuckold continues his story, telling how he's called in to identify Michael’s body after he's apparently stabbed to death: p. 100. A touching and tragic scene.

—The Cuckold tells Farragut about “the Valley,” a group masturbation site: p. 100. Note the virtuosic description, rich in detail and humanity.

—visit from Farragut’s wife: p. 104.

—anticipation and preparation for Cardinal’s planned visit and ceremony: p. 107.

—The ceremony is held; graduation and Catholic Mass: p. 112.

—Jody manages to escape Falconer per his plot: p. 113.

—The Cardinal helps Jody acquire new clothes: p. 115.

(Unnumbered, untitled section: p. 116, 62%.)

—Farragut recalls a time he planned to steal a clock face from a pier.

—DiMatteo, chaplain’s aide, shows Farragut newspaper clipping of escapee Jody’s marriage to a woman; DiMatteo feels betrayed: p. 118.

—Farragut cuts prison grass.

—TV report of riot and hostage taking at another prison: p. 119.

—Prison staff tries to lock down Falconer and control news about riot at other prison.

—Farragut learns about Louisa Pierce Springarn, who pays to have Christmas portraits taken of inmates: p. 123.

—Sergeant Marshack shares his history with Farragut; gives insight into economic attraction of prison job and pension: p. 124. -Marshack’s stress and reliance on alcohol.

—Farragut steals copper wire from Marshack’s office: p. 127.

—“Short arm”—the inspection for sexually transmitted diseases: p. 127.

—doctor demands that infected inmate “Tennis” identify his sexual partner: p. 128.

—altercation between Chicken and the Cuckold, who had stolen Chicken’s Bible for its leather cover: p. 130. A particularly absurd and ironic scene. “The Holy Scripture stinks of his balls.”

—Red Alert in Cell Block F: p. 133.

—“You is powerless”: p. 134. Important.

—Farragut starts to build a handmade radio from the stolen copper wire.

—at the Christmas photo shoot in the neglected education building: p. 140. Rich with irony and symbolism.

—Farragut tries to convince Bumpo to give him a component to help build the radio: p. 146.

—Farragut hears a radio report through another inmate’s hearing aid and delivers a coded message to Ransome: p. 150.

—the inmates receive report of the violent retaking of “The Wall” prison and the death toll.

(Unnumbered and untitled section begins p. 155, 83%.)

—inmates issued new prison uniforms.

—The Cuckold tells Farragut about his marriage and his wife’s sexual promiscuity: p. 158.

—inmates vaccinated for flu; Chicken’s accusation of inmates being used as medical guinea pigs: p. 161.

—an orderly tells Farragut that he has been receiving placebos instead of methadone: p. 161.

—Farragut’s memories of his family: p. 166.

—flashback to Farragut accompanying his brother Eben, who goes to a nursing home to read to the residents: p. 167.

My note: interesting juxtaposition of two institutional settings.

—recount of Eben’s troubled family: son in prison; daughter with multiple suicide attempts: p. 168.

—Flashback continues: the brothers argue; Eben tells Farragut that their father had wanted Farragut aborted: p. 172. Farragut assaults Eben, leading to murder charge and conviction.

—Chicken dies while being tended to by Farragut: p. 176.

—Farragut escapes by taking Chicken’s place in a corpse carrier.

—End of novel: p. 183, 99%.