Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 SMI; site sun.uucp Path: utzoo!lsuc!pesnta!pyramid!decwrl!sun!chuq From: chuq@sun.uucp (Chuq Von Rospach) Newsgroups: net.motss,net.sf-lovers Subject: Re: Sexual Slant in Novels - "Stars in My Pocket..." Message-ID: <3101@sun.uucp> Date: Mon, 30-Dec-85 12:41:55 EST Article-I.D.: sun.3101 Posted: Mon Dec 30 12:41:55 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 31-Dec-85 00:54:05 EST References: <827@bu-cs.UUCP> Organization: Sun Micro -- NFS Consulting Group Lines: 94 Xref: lsuc net.motss:457 net.sf-lovers:5615 > >Recently I bought an sf novel from the Quality Paperback > >Book Club, Samuel R. Delany's "Stars in My Pocket Like Grains > >of Sand." The book club's blurb had read something like: > >"drama of life, death and sexuality in the distant future." > >The problem I have with this is that the ad didn't disclose > >that the "sexuality" was predominantly gay sexuality. > >1) Should ads for novels at least suggest whether the sex/romance > > is predominantly straight or gay? The Science Fiction Book Club routinely puts warnings on books with material that that might bother some of its readers. They don't describe it explicitly beyond 'violence' or 'sexual themes' but it is enough to warn away readers sensitive to this kind of stuff (and attract the rest of us...) How do you tactfully warn readers of 'gay' or 'straight' sex? Remember, the ads are read by everyone and so the ads have to be a LOT more conservative than the books they advertise (Warning: this book may be offensive to midget negro eskimos with a Dr. School fetish?) I suggest, rather, that you read the various reviews out there -- Tom Easton in Analog, A.J. Budrys in Fantasy & SF, the group from Locus, and track your reactions to books they review to the way they review it. If there is questionable material in a book, someone will mention it (I think A.J. talked about the sex in SIMPLGOS). Even more important, you'll start finding people who either like the things like like all the time, or hate the stuff you like all the time. Either way, when you learn how to read the critics, you can go a long way towards figuring out what books to read and avoid. Sometimes, for example, I find I prefer running into a critic that hates the stuff I like. 9 times out of 10 I find that when Gene Siskel pans a movie, I'm going to love it. This doesn't mean he's wrong, it just means his tastes are different enough from mine to be a good indicator for me. That is the primary job of a critic, I feel. > I put it > down halfway through because it was a ponderous, unreadable mess. > I don't believe that the sex/romance was the major theme. I don't think it had a theme. I made it about 2/3 of the way through, personally, before I put it down because I simply didn't care what happened... > >2) Should it make any difference? In other words, should it have > > mattered to me? Everyone finds things that bothers them. Whether it 'should' or not is beside the point. I found some of the themes in 'Courtship Rite' by Kingsbury to be intolerable, personally. Everyone has sensitive spots. > There's no "should". If you dislike gay (or straight) sex, I can't think > of a compelling reason NOT to mention the type of sex on the cover of a novel. I disagree. How is the publisher going to know what is going to bother/offend every one of their readers? That is more the purpose of the critics, I think. We definitely want to avoid what the record industry is getting into... > After all, the box any appliance comes in tells you what color the > thing is... :-) Publishers, though, are not likely to identify novels in this > manner because they hope to sell them to *everybody*. (If anyone has a good > reason for disguising the sexual slant in a novel, please correct me.) Well, if the color is blue, I might agree..... One good reason why a publisher might not want to sell to 'everybody' is because a good percentage of the 'everybody' (also known as the great unwashed) would probably try to burn some of the books... Just ask Vonnegut > >3) Was it my fault for not remembering or knowing that Delany's > > sf writing has a gay slant? What if it was your first exposure to an author? Again, learning to trust a good critic helps you locate new authors and avoid others. > >4) Do I have a point in objecting to the way the book club advertised > > the book? > Maybe. Send them a letter, asking why the sexual bias wasn't specifically > mentioned. I'd guess that either they wanted people to buy it who wouldn't > if they knew the kind of sex in the book, or they wanted to show they don't > discriminate against gays, or both. Writing and asking about their policy might not be a bad idea. There may be a discrimination aspect to it, but I doubt it. More likely, they are only reacting to previous complaints about ANY sexual slant. > >5) Was the book such a work of creative genious that it transcended > > such considerations? no. I think it was a great attempt at a seminal work that didn't quite succeed. -- :From catacombs of Castle Tarot: Chuq Von Rospach sun!chuq@decwrl.DEC.COM {hplabs,ihnp4,nsc,pyramid}!sun!chuq It's not looking, it's heat seeking.