Beebo Brinker

A Classic Lesbian Pulp of Love, Betrayl, and A Girl Too Tall for Her Own Good

Though pulp novels are hard to find these days, Ann Bannon's Beebo Brinker is one of those special rarities which have been reprinted, proclaimed a classic, and studied in universities across the country. Published in 1962, it was only reviewed by The Ladder which called the book a disappointment and sad failure. However, over 40 years later, The Ladder is no where to be seen, and LGBT scholars, queer readers, and pulp lovers across the country are still excited about it.

The novel tells the story of Beebo Brinker, who leaves her farm town for Greenwich Village, after finding it too uncomfortable and disgraceful to live in a small town. However, wherein the city show more at first was a symbol of freedom, she soon comes out, make friends with the local gays, and get invovled with the wicked Mona, the innocent Paula, and the irrestible star Venus Bogardus, all of who show Beebo that the city too can be a prison. It is through these relationships--a central theme in the novel--that Bannon explores the limits and possibilities of gay love and any other kind of love.

Beebo Brinker is filled with, as one might expect from a pulp era novel, larger than life characters who are appealing and unique in their own right. While some might say that they are sometime stereotypical, they are nonetheless charming. Who wouldn't be able to resist Jack Mann--man or woman, gay or straight--or even in between? Despite this, however, the novel at time drags as Beebo tries to find her place in the city, in life, and in love. But maybe, that's just the gay male side of me talking, uninterested in any lesbian sex scene however vaguely written.

The book however is part of the queer literary cannon, not only because it was an early lesbian novel, but also because it evokes a specific time, a specific place in gay history that is rarely captured so honestly. As she states in her preface, it is an offspring of that era, that time and place. Ann Bannon marked a time in literature when it wasn't wrong to be gay, and maybe it was just right to be who you were, no matter the sexuality. And it is perhaps for this reason alone that this novel should be read by any L, G, B, or T person looking to see their onw place in history. show less

i'm torn because i want to acknowledge the importance of this book but also the problems i have with it. historically speaking this book (and the series it is the prequel to) was groundbreaking and lifesaving for many people. it was literally revolutionary for ann bannon to write these books and for people to read them. she did something that just wasn't being done before, and for that she is a trailblazer and a hero to many, as she should be.

i try to remember that now, as i'm writing this, and i tried to keep it in mind as i was reading over the last couple of days as well. because that matters.

and i think that the conclusion that i'm allowing myself to come to is that i'm not sure if the significant parts of this book that i don't show more like are representative of a different age or are just problematic for me in books. we have a strong, flawed main character in beebo, which i appreciate. but most of the supporting characters are so incredibly weak that it's hard to read. the professions of love are so over the top and seemingly ridiculous (i felt the same way when reading maupin's the tales of the city series so maybe this is more reflective of a time in a community than uncomfortable writing) that i wondered if our definition of the word has actually changed through time. other than the scenes where love was being talked about, the writing is fine but nothing spectacular. it suits the book, though.

but on the positive side: i was struck by the parallel of how beebo was wanting to experience so much and so many different kinds of women and making mistakes as she immersed herself in what was, to her, a new "culture" and was just trembling with excitement to even be a part of it, with how i feel "discovering" lesbian literature. and how real that feels to me, so how real so much of the rest must have felt to women in the 50's and 60's. the validation, the acknowledgement, the celebration. i just wanted a little more than that, i guess. show less

If you are not familiar with Ann Bannon (Ann Weldy), she is the grande dame of Lesbian Pulp. Beebo Brinker was written in 1962, at a time when queerness was rarely talked about, and when it was there were inevitably awful consequences (usually death) to the poor “afflicted” souls. Beebo Brinker is the 5th book in a series, though I didn’t even realize this until now and I didn’t really feel like i missed anything by not reading the previous ones. Also, seeing as Beebo basically “comes out” publicly in this novel I can’t imagine what the other novels cover (though I will probably read them at some point).

Anyway, once I got past the ridiculous name (maybe I could find out why she has that silly name in those books? That show more would maybe be worth it) I enjoyed reading this book. It is pulp, and was a breeze of a novel, but it is no romance novel (though there are some romantic subplots). It was really interesting to see the way that queerness was talked about back then. For example, the gay man that took Beebo in didn’t really openly come out to her until they knew each other for weeks.

There’s also casual bi-phobia, the women that sleep with men are all evil/super fucked up, but they are also the most interesting characters so I will let it slide. No one dies in Beebo Brinker, which is a good thing, and different from most of the gay books of the era from what I’ve heard. At it’s core Beebo Brinker is a fish out of water novel about a small town girl moving to New York City and internally torturing herself with, and finally coming to terms with her sexuality.
It’s a slightly depressing romp, but doesn’t end in outright tragedy so I think it is still fun as a beach read that can help (maybe) give some of us queers a sense of a small (white) part of our history, and for that it is worth the read. show less

I was not expecting to enjoy this nearly as much as I did; thus I give it 5 stars for blowing my expectations out of the water vs. 3.5-4 stars it deserves as a book in general.

I want to read more lesbian pulp novels; I hope this isn't going to set my expectations too high.

Although the last book published in the Beebo Brinker series by Ann Bannon, this book is a prequel to the other books. Beebo flees to New York City, unable to deny who and what she is. While there, she encounters Jack Mann, who takes her in and befriends her. Beebo gets a girlfriend, Paula, but Beebo is soon transfixed by the beautiful actress, Venus Bogardus.

In my opinion, this definitely isn't the best book in the series (I love Odd Girl Out the most), but it's a good story about Beebo's early years. If it had been a stand alone book, I probably would have rated it slightly lower, but I have a lot of love for the series, both historically-speaking and just fun-to-read-speaking.

Set in the 1950s, these classic lesbian pulp novels really started it all. Ann Bannon began writing these books when she was only 22 years old. They reflect the rigid stereotypes of the '50s, but also paint the burgeoning gay and lesbian culture of NYC. Influenced and mentored by Vin Packer, Ann Bannon influenced thousands of lesbians in the decade, to follow by her honest portrayal of lesbian lust and love in the 1950s. -Monica

Man was this boring. It was like sitting in a dentist's office listening to a roomful of women have enless boring conversations. Yak Yak Yak.