M. E. KerrBesprekingen

Descent into Madness
Review of the Kindle eBook edition (2022) of the Gold Medal Book paperback original (1952)

Spring Fire was Marijane Meaker's (writing under the pseudonym Vin Packer) pulp paperback about a lesbian romance between sorority sisters in 1952. The repressive atmosphere of that era had Meaker's publishers require that the romance should fail and be a cause of regret afterwards.

That is in contrast to the ending of Patricia Highsmith's lesbian romance (writing as Claire Morgan) The Price of Salt, also published in 1952, which was more optimistic. Meaker's book is more explicit about the physical romance however, with Highsmith being more restrained.

See cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/Spring_Fire_Cover_First_Edition.j...
The cover of the Gold Medal Books paperback original (1952). Image sourced from Wikipedia.

Although my 2022 Kindle edition shares the cover design of the 2004 Cleis paperback & ebook Spring Fire, it does not include Marijane Meaker's then newly written introduction in which she apparently wrote that she was embarrassed about having the book republished, although it still stands as a breakthrough work for lesbian literature.

I read Spring Fire as an addendum to my recent Patricia Highsmith binge. Meaker and Highsmith were also involved in a earlier relationship about which Meaker later wrote a memoir Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950's (2003).

Trivia and Links
You can read Marijane Meaker's (1927-2022) obituary in The New York Times here.

You can read further about the background to the original publication of Spring Fire at Literary Ladies Guide by Francis Booth, March 21, 2021.

Marijane Meaker was interviewed for the Patricia Highsmith documentary film Loving Highsmith (2022) directed by Eva Vitija. You can see several excerpts of Meaker's interview in the trailer for the film here (she first says: "Pat was more dedicated than any writer I had ever met. Certainly she was very famous when I met her.").

Oh, boy. The thing I find truly useful about this book is its exploration of the heavy themes of the Holocaust without being a "Holocaust book." Written at a time (1978) when one's grandfather could have been a Nazi strongman in a concentration camp, the story doesn't center on the terrible things Buddy's grandfather might have done -- instead, the focus is on Buddy, trying to find his way as a blue-collared "townie" in love with a super-rich girl outside of Montauk, New York.

Without spoiling, I'll ask -- Can humans change? Is redemption possible? Are there crimes so godawfully heinous that they cannot be forgiven?

This book shows its age only because tape decks, polyester, and Barbra Streisand are no longer de rigeur -- otherwise, the eternal themes of love, loss, and betrayal are poignantly rendered in this early offering from a master of teen literature.

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Libro molto bello che ho centellinato e assaporato in questi mesi.
La scrittrice Marijane Meaker racconta i due anni di relazione con Patricia Highsmith alla fine degli anni '50. Interessante lo sguardo sull'ambiente editoriale e intellettuale della New York di quegli anni, su quello gay e lesbico, e su alcune ossessioni e passioni della Highsmith (il bere, l'antisemitismo, e anche un certo razzismo verso le persone di colore). Alla fine del libro c'è la descrizione del loro ultimo incontro dopo molti anni in cui non si erano più viste.
Ho "ritagliato" qualche pagina dal libro qui: https://patriziamandanici.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/highsmith-una-storia-damore-d...

A very good teen book about small town life and how parents, siblings, friends, and townspeople react to a queer teen in their midst. 25 years after being written, this book still feels relative today. Evie is the girl who likes sports, wearing "boys' clothes," and driving fast cars. She isn't "ladylike" and she doesn't care what people think about her. She just is who she is. A story that teaches how to love people for who they are and who they want to be.

Read as a curiosity only. Although written by a lesbian (Marijane Meaker) it adopts the stance that homosexuality is a sickness that perhaps in some cases can be cured. In one chapter, it says it's always the parents' fault. From time to time, the author's own voice is probably sneaking through, since the overall tone of the book is sympathetic, but it is a hopeless mishmash of outmoded theories and case studies. One whole chapter--the most frightening one--does recount each of the 48 states' (yes, the book is that old) laws against "unnatural acts" and the like. In Georgia, homosexuality could be punished by life in prison, for instance. Perhaps it does say something about the public's curiosity that this book could be published alongside Gold Medal novels by the likes of John D. MacDonald! Meaker also wrote pulp novels, some with lesbian themes, as Vin Packer, and highly successful children's books as M.E. Kerr. She was also Patricia Highsmith's lover for two years. Quite a life--and she's still going, over 90 years old at the time of this review.

The story of three male youths, each having their own chapters until eventually their stories overlap. Taking place around the mid-1950s, Brock is sixteen and lives with his father and his new, younger wife. Brock is a tightly wound boy who is always groomed, hates rock and roll and the vulgar behavior of his classmates, including the pretty girl in class who is always trying to get his attention. As Brock often tells himself, he'd never have anything to do with that sort of thing, though he does have a penchant for stealing.
Next we meet eight year old genius Charles, who has become a minor celebrity by appearing on a quiz show where he has racked up tens of thousands of dollars in potential wins. The stress of his genius has pushed his parent's already volatile marriage to the edge, and with one single misunderstood word from Charles, a domino effect is set in motion.
The third boy is Reggie, so smothered by his mother and her friend that he makes a bad plan to escape.

The entire time I was reading this I was appalled, oddly fascinated and deeply sad. The only reason I can see the value of this still being available (at least as it is in ebook format) is that it serves as an unwelcome, but very necessary, reminder of just how bad attitudes toward gays and lesbians were in the not so far away past. It is not that they cannot still be bad (they can, of course!) What makes it so different than today, though, is that these attitudes were just so incredibly warped in their badness and so alarmingly misguided and ignorant reading about them can absolutely chill your blood.

I have often found myself (because I have been there, having been old enough to still live in a time when being gay was considered a 'sickness') on the self-hating end of the spectrum of being gay, but thankfully those days are mostly over. I recommend this book not because I like it, but because it is a relic that needs to be read if only to remind ourselves of how far we have come and that while things still need to improve even more, we are much better off than we were.

Hard to believe that this was written by the same author as Come
Destroy Me. The writing style is wildly different. This is the real
Westside Story without the singing and dancing. It's the early 1950's
and the Kings of the Earth are squaring off against the Jungles led by
Flathead Pontiac. Word on the Street is that Pontiac is gonna make a
play for Babe, the girlfriend of the King of Kings, Rigoberto Gonsalves.
There is gonna be a rumble after the dance. The story is quite intense
and you really get a feel for how these kids lived. Great stuff.

I began reading this book simply based on the unusual title and the
fact that it was on sale. I also found it intriguing that an Acid Rock
band of the late 60s early 70's that was an opening act for many great
rock bands adopted the title as the name of their band. According to
the band's website, the leader of the band has been in prison for
almost 18 years following a "domestic dispute.". The book is unlike any
other Vin Packer book I have ever read. It is a unique psychological
Portrayal of an unusual man. It is not a fast paced thriller. There are no
gun battles and no police chases. And it starts off slowly and builds to
the point where you can't put it down. But it is well written and should
be studied in English Lit classes along with Catcher In The Rye and
Faust. An orphan works in NYC in a book and autograph collector
store. He managed the store for the owner who is a bit nuts. By
chance, he meets a well to do acquaintance from childhood and that's
when the trouble starts. An amazing book. Highly recommended.

A cockroach is alarmed to discover he has turned into - a boy!

Perfect for reading on public transportation, Edge is a solid collection of short stories. Spanning a wide range of subjects, the stories are creative, thought-provoking and emotionally engaging. Short story anthologies can really be a mixed bag, forcing you to slog through mediocre stories to find the occasional gem. Edge didn't fall into this trap, offering an interesting the read the whole way through. However, it could have done with more female representation: almost all the protagonists were boys, and girls rarely appeared outside the role of love interest, which was especially disappointing coming from a lesbian author. The one story to feature a lesbian character, however, was definitely worth it, and the coming-out conversation with her grandmother was unforgettable.

This is mainly a sampling from a writer of teen fiction with explanatory introductions. These aren't the kind of stories I normally read (or write), but some of the suggestions apply to just about every style and genre.

Dated and didactic, but unfortunately probably still necessary in hick towns like the one that owns it in my library system: Jackpot, Nevada.

While everyone else is marching off to war or supporting the war effort, Jubal's brother Bud, a Quaker and a pacifist, chooses to be a 4E conscientious objector. He goes off to Civilian Public Service camp in Colorado to perform jobs without pay. His choice affects the way the community treats his family. The circumstances bring up the question for Jubal's family and their fellow Quakers: is war ever justifiable?

At first I enjoyed the ridiculousness of the prose ( little Leda grew fast and fully and richly. She had long black hair that shone like new coal, round green eyes, a stubborn tilt to her chin, proud pear-shaped breasts that pointed through her size 36 sweater, and long graceful legs.) but soon I just felt abused by the many scenes of women getting date raped with the approval of their sorority sisters. Nothing happens to the rapists, but a woman who confesses to the crime of lesbian feelings gets institutionalized.

Ok. I was looking for campy fun, along with a sociologically interesting study of early lesbian fiction, but I discovered that I wasn't up for the grotesque misogyny I found here along with the campy fun and sociologically interesting bits. It's a good measure of the progress our culture has made, though, since the novel was written.

**Highly Reccomended**

"A good basic book on lesbianism, although from a conservative point of view. Many younger gay women might not agree with some of the things the author says."

Portland Gay Liberation, "The New Gay Library," 1972 (Portland, Oregon)

An upper-middle-class white girl from Long Island and an immigrant worker from Colombia fall in love despite objections from both their families and their community.

One of the few books written by Marijane Meaker (one of the founders of Lesbian Pulp Fiction) under her real name, Game of Survival is a suspense novel about five strangers trapped in an elevator in a New York City hotel during a blizzard. Cut off from the rest of the world as people on the outside race to prevent the detached elevator from plummeting twenty stories, the trapped passengers attempt to pass the time and distract themselves by sharing stories from their past. As tempers and patience unravel, these five strangers learn more about themselves through what they share with one another... and what they don't.

What would normally be just another mini-disaster story takes on a whole new shape with the plot device of the elevator passengers sharing stories from their past, first about their experiences during the Northeast blackout of 1965 and then about their "worst mistakes." As a result, half of the action in the book takes place in flashbacks that reveal the backgrounds and motivations of the main characters. The flashbacks, which are presented as personal memories outside of the current time dialogue, are revealing not only by what they show and how the character views the flashback (hints of the unreliable narrator in most of the flashbacks), as well as by the revelation after each one of what part of the past event each character did not share in their version of the story. It's an interesting device that makes Game of Survival more of a character study then a rescue mission, and lends a greater level of depth than I originally suspected going in.

If there's one issue I've often had with novels featuring a group of strangers being trapped together in some unusual circumstance, it is that more often than not the author feels the need to make one of the characters a celebrity, and Meaker follows suit with including young football sensation T.T. Blades. Regardless of my bias, Booker's character didn't throw me off, and the obvious variety of the trapped characters covering the wide range of age and social (but not racial, interestingly enough) spectrum, while a bit suspect and convenient, didn't distract from my overall enjoyment of the story. This kind of menagerie of characters will also also leave the reader with a personal favorite, and mine is definitely the washed-up alcoholic womanizer Charles Latham (aka the unflappable Reverend Smoke).

What really saves the novel from mediocrity is not merely the depth of the characters, but the complexity of their tales and predicaments. While some authors always feel the need to wrap up all of the presented character flaws and dilemmas with neat solutions and happy endings, not much is resolved for these characters at the end, and in some cases what is seen as a positive step forward by the character might even be construed as a step backward or in the wrong direction altogether. The reader gains an insight into the characters not just by what they reveal the reader, but by what they don't reveal to the others and themselves, and invariably finds that they are invested in what becomes of them. While the titular "game of survival" is the storytelling that the elevator passengers engage in, it is also the game they play as they struggle - each in their own way, with their own inherent self-destructive qualities - to survive the lives they have built for themselves, and the choices they make in the process.

I read this book for a book report when I was in fourth grade. My report said something to the effect of this was the worst book ever, it basically had no plot, and I couldn't even think of anything to write about because nothing happened. It is the only book I remember hating as a child. So I thought I'd read it again to see what was so awful.

What was so awful is that this book is not written for fourth graders. It is more of a teenager book and I'm not sure how my grade school librarian ended up giving it to me. (I seem to remember this is how I got my hands on it.) The book takes place in a Christian boarding school and is narrated by Flanders, a student at the school who was sent there by her unconventional, atheist father after her mother ran off with a much younger man. Flanders becomes friends with Cardmaker, a preacher's kid, and Agnes, a student who is deaf. The three of them rebel against the mainstream culture of the school and stand up for Miss Blue, the outcast teacher.

Miss Blue is the faculty resident in their dorm, and is a strange, yet sweet and genuine individual who has extreme faith in Jesus, to the point of having visions and experiences others call crazy. Although she doesn't agree with Miss Blue's religion, Flanders feels that Miss Blue is the best teacher in the school. The school administration sees it differently and feels Miss Blue is a liability.

All of this must have been way to complicated for me to understand as a fourth grader. It explores themes of religion, atheism, and basic issues in teenage life.

Miss Blue's character makes me really sad as an adult, but I'm sure I didn't understand it as a kid. Her character is intentionally not well developed and her past is full of mysteries, but she one is those people that is just too kind and innocent to live in such a cruel world.

I wish I still had my book report, or that I could somehow reenter my fourth grade head so I could understand how I processed this book at the time.

It wasn't a great book, but I didn't hate it, things did happen, and I'm glad I read it again.

Erinnerungen an Patricia Highsmith

It's too bad that, in order to get a book published about lesbians in the '50s, they had to end this way.

Wow! An incredible story highlighting a perspective I had not yet encountered in my Holocaust readings - a SS Nazi guard, Gentlehands, who had escaped Germany after World War II and his hidden identity living in Seaside, NY. I found the main character, Buddy Boyle, relatable and endearing. He is fiercely protective of those he cares for but has a strong conviction to do what is right. It has enough love story/teen angst to capture teenage readers but also introduces an important historical figure AND major issues of racial prejudice.

I found this book incredibly disappointing. The first section of the book has almost nothing to do with the second section and, overall, nothing really happens. It establishes the friendship between Jessica and Elisa, but that's about it. We don't need to know about the Joys and about the convict and what was going on between Jessica's father and brother or mother or anybody. None of that adds anything to the story line, if you could really say this even has one. The first section doesn't even do a good job setting the tone of the time period, which was during the Great Depression. You hear about all the gangsters, yes, and the hobo camps and car repossessions were mentioned as well, but overall, you don't get a real feel for what was going on at the time.

The most important part, I'd say is the correspondence between the two girls after Elisa's family goes back to Germany, which isn't until the second section, and by then the book is almost over. Page 177, that's when the book starts getting interesting and you actually get a feel for what is going on. That's over three quarters of the way into the book!

I would not suggest reading this. In fact I'd almost consider this book a waste of paper, and I never thought I'd say that about any book. Save yourself the trouble. If you don't have to read it, don't waste your time.

Not the best written coming of age story. Told in alternating chapters by Brenda Belle and Adam, they detail the time that Adam lives with his maternal grandfather in Vermont after getting expelled from a private school.