WE ARE FIRES UNQUENCHABLE
Rare first edition of this erotic lesbian novel set in a rural US town – inscribed by the author to her parents.
Very good plus.
Price: $1,200.00
WE ARE FIRES UNQUENCHABLE
Steven Dillon identifies WE ARE FIRES as the "species of sex novel" that "sets its erotica into an interesting scientific framework" — in this case with an introduction by (the likely fictional) "H. K. Bonaparta, Ph.C." Dillon speculates that the introduction may have been included to "ward off the pornography police since the publishers [...] are not otherwise dirty book peddlers" (126), though this cataloguer is uncertain of how much legitimacy is conveyed by a doctoral candidate. All of this makes it all the more surprising that Mary Speers inscribed this copy to "dear Mother & Dad"; one wonders if this note carries a touch of antagonism, or if her parents did, in fact, support her unconventional writing career.
The book was also apparently the subject of an obscenity lawsuit against the publisher (likely Marcel Rodd), which may help explain why WE ARE FIRES UNQUENCHABLE has "almost entirely vanished from surveys of queer literature" (ibid) and is quite scarce in institutional collections. OCLC locates just three holdings. A rich canvas for academic analysis, difficult to obtain, and especially desirable with such an intimate association.
Read more: Steven Dillon, Wolf-Women and Phantom Ladies; Barbara Grier, The Lesbian in Literature, 144.
The Object
Hollywood: Murray & Gee, 1942. 8'' x 5.25''. Original blue cloth binding with gilt spine lettering. 366 pages. Inscribed by Speers to front flyleaf "To dear Mother & Dad," dated April 18 1942. No dust jacket. Mild bumping to corners and spine ends, a bit of sunning to spine; with a very slight lean. Leaves with one or two spots of marginal soil. Sound and bright.
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