Download or read book That Furious Lesbian written by Robert A Schanke and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this first book-length biography of Mercedes de Acosta, theatre historian Robert A. Schanke adroitly mines lost archival materials and mixes in his own interviews with de Acosta’s intimates to correct established myths and at last construct an accurate, detailed, and vibrant portrait of the flamboyantly uninhibited early-twentieth-century author, poet, and playwright. Born to wealthy Spanish immigrants, Mercedes de Acosta (1893–1968) lived in opulence and traveled in the same social circles as the Astors and Vanderbilts. Introduced to the New York theater scene at an early age, her dual loves of performance and of women informed every aspect of her life thereafter. Alice B. Toklas’s observation, “Say what you will about Mercedes, she’s had the most important women in the twentieth century,” was well justified, as her romantic conquests included such internationally renowned beauties as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Isadora Duncan, and Eva Le Gallienne as well as Alla Nazimova, Tamara Karsavina, Pola Negri, and Ona Munson. More than a record of her personal life and infamous romances, this account offers the first analysis of the complete oeuvre of de Acosta’s literary works, including three volumes of poetry, two novels, two film scripts, and a dozen plays. Although only two of her plays were ever published during her lifetime, four of them were produced, featuring such stage luminaries as John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, and Eva Le Gallienne. Critics praised her first volume of poetry, Moods, in 1919 and predicted her rise to literary fame, but the love of other women that fueled her writing also limited her opportunities to fulfill this destiny. Failing to achieve any lasting fame, she died in relative poverty at the age of seventy-five. De Acosta lived her desires publicly with verve and vigor at a time when few others would dare, and for that, she paid the price of marginalized obscurity. Until now. With “That Furious Lesbian” Schanke at last establishes Mercedes de Acosta’s rightful place as a pioneer—and indeed a champion—in the early struggle for lesbian rights in this country. Robert A. Schanke has edited a companion to this biography, Women in Turmoil: Six Plays by Mercedes de Acosta,also available from Southern Illinois University Press.
Download or read book Space and Irish Lesbian Fiction written by Amy Jeffrey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-06-15 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Space and Irish Lesbian Fiction offers an original and much-needed study of Irish Lesbian fiction. Evaluating a wide body of Irish lesbian fiction ranging from the Victorian era to the contemporary age, this book advocates for women writers who have been largely ignored in Irish literary history and criticism. This volume examines the use and applications of space in Irish lesbian fiction. In recent years, it can be argued that Irish society has created a new ‘space’ for LGBT or queer people. The concept of space is, thus, important both symbolically and physically for lesbian literature. In asking, if Irish women writers have moved ‘out of the shadows’ so to speak, what space is open to the Irish lesbian author? How is spatiality reflected in lesbian representation throughout Irish literary history? Space and Irish Lesbian Fiction examines a diverse range of writers from the nineteenth century to the contemporary age, evaluating the contributions of largely unknown authors who have been overlooked alongside more established voices within Irish literature. The concept of liminality that this volume takes as its theme and focus engage with notions of intersectionality, thresholds, crossings and transitions. In suggesting the overlap between the indeterminate threshold of the liminal space and its ambiguously queer potentiality to examine the dynamics of space and its relationship to lesbianism, this ground-breaking project both locates and charts spaces of queer liminality in Irish lesbian fiction.
Download or read book Women in Turmoil written by Robert A Schanke and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2008-08-18 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this first publication of six plays by the flamboyantly uninhibited author, poet, and playwright Mercedes de Acosta (1893–1968), theater historian Robert A. Schanke rescues these lost theatrical writings from the dusty margins of obscurity. Often autobiographical, always rife with gender struggle, and still decidedly stageworthy, Women in Turmoil: Six Plays by Mercedes de Acosta constitutes a significant find for the canon of gay and lesbian drama. In her 1960 autobiography Here Lies the Heart, de Acosta notes that as she was contemplating marriage to a man in 1920, she was "in a strange turmoil about world affairs, my own writing, suffrage, sex, and my inner spiritual development." The voice in these plays is that of a lesbian in turmoil, marginalized and ignored. Her same-sex desires and struggles for acceptance fueled her writings, and nowhere is that more evident than in the plays contained herein. The women characters struggle with unfulfilling marriages, divorce, unrequited sexual desire, suppressed identity, and a longing for recognition. Of the six plays, only the first two were ever produced. Jehanne d’Arc (1922) premiered in Paris with de Acosta’s lover at the time, Eva Le Gallienne, starring and Norman Bel Geddes designing the set and lights. In 1934, de Acosta adapted it into a screenplay for Greta Garbo, then her lover, but it was never filmed. Portraying rampant anti-Semitism in a small New England town, Jacob Slovak (1923) was performed both on Broadway and in London, with the London production starring John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. The Mother of Christ (1924) is a long one-act play written for the internationally known actress Eleonora Duse. After Duse’s death, several other actresses including Eva Bartok, Jeanne Eagels, and Lillian Gish explored productions of the play. Igor Stravinsky wrote a score, Norman Bel Geddes designed a set, and Gladys Calthrop designed costumes. However, the play was never produced. Her most autobiographical play, World Without End (1925), and her most sensational play, The Dark Light (1926), both unfold through plots of sibling rivalry, incest, and suicide. With overtones of Ibsen, Illusion (1928) continues the themes of de Acosta’s previous plays with her rough and seedy cast of characters, but here the playwright’s drama grows to incorporate a yearning for belonging as well as strong elements of class conflict. What notoriety remains associated with de Acosta has less to do with her writing than with her infamous romances with the likes of Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Isadora Duncan, Alla Nazimova, Eva Le Gallienne, Tamara Karsavina, Pola Negri, and Ona Munson. Through this collection of six powerfully poignant dramas, editor Robert A. Schanke strives to correct myths about Mercedes de Acosta and to restore both her name and her literary achievements to their proper place in history. Robert A. Schanke has authored the original biography, “That Furious Lesbian:” The Story of Mercedes de Acosta, also available from Southern Illinois University Press.
Download or read book Gay L A written by Lillian Faderman and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2009-08-03 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charts LA's gay history, from the first missionary encounters with Native American cross-gendered 'two spirits' to cross-dressing frontier women in search of their fortunes, and from the 1960s gay liberation movement to the creation of gay marketing in the 1990s.
Download or read book Stonewall written by David Carter and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2010-05-25 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Carter's Stonewall is the basis of the PBS American Experience documentary Stonewall Uprising. In 1969, a series of riots over police action against The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, changed the longtime landscape of the homosexual in society literally overnight. Since then the event itself has become the stuff of legend, with relatively little hard information available on the riots themselves. Now, based on hundreds of interviews, an exhaustive search of public and previously sealed files, and over a decade of intensive research into the history and the topic, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution brings this singular event to vivid life in this, the definitive story of one of history's most singular events. A Randy Shilts / Publishing Triangle Award Finalist "Riveting...Not only the definitive examination of the riots but an absorbing history of pre-Stonewall America, and how the oppression and pent-up rage of those years finally ignited on a hot New York night." - Boston Globe
Download or read book Why Love Leads to Justice written by David A. J. Richards and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells the stories of notable historical figures whose resistance of patriarchal laws transformed ethical, political, and legal standards.
Download or read book Service Girl Chronicles Lesbian Romance written by Heidi Lowe and published by Heidi Lowe Books. This book was released on with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Chicago's newest lesbian escort! Twenty-two year old Erica Frost has a problem: she's been accepted into one of the best drama schools in the world, but she's just learned that her parents are broke! Luckily, all her tuition was put in a trust. Her living expenses, however, are another thing entirely. With only two months to go before the course starts, she needs to earn money, and lots of it, fast. So when she sees an ad seeking an escort for a group of bored, rich housewives, it's an offer she simply can't refuse. The job is the easy part. Keeping her emotions out of it might be a little trickier. Service Girl Chronicles is a 4-book lesbian romance series. This is the complete set. CONTINUE THE STORY: www.hlowebooks.com/fictionhub -- where you'll be able to read exclusive shorts and sequels to this series and more.
Download or read book After Service Service Girl Chronicles 4 Lesbian Romance written by Heidi Lowe and published by Heidi Lowe Books. This book was released on 2018-12-12 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It took her two years to get here, but Erica finally has everything she's ever wanted: the woman of her dreams, a beautiful home, and she's about to make her first movie. Happily ever after now looks obtainable. Putting the past behind her is going to be a challenge, however, not just for her, but for her new girlfriend. There are too many reminders, too many skeletons in the closet, too many things standing in their way. And not everyone's happy for the new couple... Erica's about to learn a valuable lesson: getting everything you want means you have everything to lose. After Service is the fourth and final book in the Service Girl Chronicles. CONTINUE THE STORY: www.hlowebooks.com/fictionhub -- where you'll be able to read exclusive shorts and sequels to this series and more.
Download or read book Queer Theatre and the Legacy of Cal Yeomans written by R. Schanke and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A forgotten yet award-winning playwright, Cal Yeomans was one of the founders of gay theater whose work was fueled by gay liberation and extinguished by the AIDS epidemic. Schanke's examination of his life and legacy allows a rare exploration into this pivotal moment of gay American history.
Download or read book Reclaiming the Archive written by Vicki Callahan and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2010-04-15 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars of film history and feminist studies will appreciate the breadth of work in this volume.
Download or read book Latino Writers and Journalists written by Jamie Martinez Wood and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides short biographies of Latino American writers and journalists and information on their works.
Download or read book The Girls written by Diana McLellan and published by Booktrope Editions. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diana McLellan reveals the complex and intimate connections that roiled behind the public personae of Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, and the women who loved them. Private correspondence, long-secret FBI files, and troves of unpublished documents reveal a chain of lesbian affairs that moved from the theater world of New York, through the heights of chic society, to embed itself in the power structure of the movie business. The Girls serves up a rich stew of film, politics, sexuality, psychology, and stardom.
Download or read book Gay and Lesbian Poetry written by James J. Wilhelm and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1995. This anthology focuses on European languages, but also includes Arabic and Hebrew poetry of medieval Spain, arranged chronologically and accompanied by commentary about the poets' lives and work.
Download or read book Kate written by William J. Mann and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2007-10-30 with total page 710 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first major Katharine Hepburn biography independent of her control reveals the smart, complicated, and sophisticated woman behind the image Onscreen she played society girls, Spencer Tracy's sidekick, lionesses in winter. But the best character Katharine Hepburn ever created was Katharine Hepburn: a Connecticut Yankee, outspoken and elegant, she wore pants whatever the occasion and bristled at Hollywood glitter. So captivating was her image that she never seemed less than authentic. But how well did we know her, really? Was there a woman behind the image who was more human, more driven, and ultimately more triumphant because of her vulnerability? William J. Mann—a cultural historian and journalist, a sympathetic admirer but no mere fan—has fashioned an intimate, often revisionist, and truly unique close-up that challenges much of what we think we know about the Great Kate. Previous biographies—mostly products of friends and fans—have recycled the stories she hid behind, taking Hollywood myths at face value. Mann goes deeper, delivering new details from friends and family who have not been previously interviewed and drawing on materials only available since Hepburn's death. With affection, intelligence, and a voluminous knowledge of Hollywood history, Mann shows us how a woman originally considered too special and controversial for fame learned the fine arts of movie stardom and transformed herself into an icon as durable and all-American as the Statue of Liberty.
Download or read book Out of the Closet Into the Archives written by Amy L. Stone and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2015-11-20 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finalist for the 2016 Lambda Literary Award in LGBT Anthology presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation Out of the Closet, Into the Archives takes readers inside the experience of how it feels to do queer archival research and queer research in the archive. The archive, much like the closet, exposes various levels of public and privateness—recognition, awareness, refusal, impulse, disclosure, framing, silence, cultural intelligibility—each mediated and determined through subjective insider/outsider ways of knowing. The contributors draw on their experiences conducting research in disciplines such as sociology, African American studies, English, communications, performance studies, anthropology, and women's and gender studies. These essays challenge scholars to engage with their affective experience of being in the archive, illuminating how the space of the archive requires a different kind of deeply personal, embodied research. "Out of the Closet, Into the Archives represents the exciting directions for scholarship enabled by this rapid growth of new LGBTQ archives. Although mindful of critiques of the archive as an institution of power and attentive to experiences and ephemeralities that can escape it, the essays published here practice forms of the archival turn that put relentless curiosity and unapologetic passion to use as methods for intellectual invention." — from the Foreword by Ann Cvetkovich
Download or read book Queer Girls and Popular Culture written by Susan Driver and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2007 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Textbook
Download or read book The Unfinished Palazzo Life Love and Art in Venice The Stories of Luisa Casati Doris Castlerosse and Peggy Guggenheim written by Judith Mackrell and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2017-09-05 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Venice’s “Unfinished Palazzo”— told through the lives of three of its most unconventional, passionate, and fascinating residents: Luisa Casati, Doris Castlerosse, and Peggy Guggenheim Commissioned in 1750, the Palazzo Venier was planned as a testimony to the power and wealth of a great Venetian family, but the fortunes of the Veniers waned midconstruction and the project was abandoned. Empty, unfinished, and decaying, the building was considered an eyesore until the early twentieth century when it attracted and inspired three women at key moments in their lives: Luisa Casati, Doris Castlerosse, and Peggy Guggenheim. Luisa Casati turned her home into an aesthete’s fantasy where she hosted parties as extravagant and decadent as Renaissance court operas, spending small fortunes on her own costumes in her quest to become a “living work of art” and muse. Doris Castlerosse strove to make her mark in London and Venice during the glamorous, hedonistic interwar years, hosting film stars and royalty at glittering parties. In the postwar years, Peggy Gugenheim turned the Palazzo into a model of modernist simplicity that served as a home for her exquisite collection of modern art that today draws tourists and art lovers from around the world. Each vivid life story is accompanied by previously unseen materials from family archives, weaving an intricate history of these legendary art world eccentrics.
