the case is still strong. Byron was unmistakably homoerotic. Much of the famed heterosexual display was window dressing otherwise, he had a propensity for being trapped by female wolves. If he or an intimate friend wrote DON LEON (one or the other seems inescapable) then the greatest of the romantic poets was fully and conciously homosexual and militantly aware of the history of homosexuality.

COUP de GRACE

-lyn pedersen

by Marguerite Yourcenar Translated from the French by Grace Frick in collaboration with the author. Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, New York, 1957.

Coup de Grace is a thoughtful narrative of a brief period in the life of a soldier of fortune told in first person with the emphasis on the psychological side. The plot is set in Eastern Europe during the aftermath of the First World War. The hero is a young

man living under the chaotic conditions of revolution with his friend in the latter's baronial home, which is in a state of semi-siege.

Erick, the narrator, finds himself the recipient of the love and pursuit of the only woman in the area, who is his friend's sister. Lacking the maturity to straighten out the situation, Erick permits the unrequited love to grow, and even holds out the impression to the girl that she may hope to eventually win him.

As the story unfolds, we are given the motivations and emotions of all concerned in such a way that we are not too sure whose life is the more tragic, the unloved girl or the hero.

Those who read Yourcenar's Hadrian's Memoirs, will find the same faultless prose in this new work as well as the same style of narrative. This literary competence places the book in a higher category than so much of the current homophile literature. The characterizations are keen, and motivations of the characters are thoroughly believable. W.V.

BOOK NEWS: Our new listing of literature on homosexual themes is due to appear soon. Included will be information on a new biography of the English poet A. E. Housman "A Divided Life" ($5.75). Back-orders are now being filled regularly of Peter Wildblood's two books "Against the Law" ($3.95) and "A Way of Life" ($4.00). We are selling "Young Torless" by Robert Musil (see June-July issue of "One") at $2.95. Due to be published on October 23rd is the long-awaited re-print of "Derricks" by James Barr ($2.50) author of "Quatrefoil."

BULLETIN: We hope to have for sale soon the electrifying Wolfenden report on "Homosexual Offences and Prostitution" recently issued in England. Add 15c per book for postage.

For further information on the above and other books, write for our regular lists. Note, we are constant buyers of books.

Village Theater Center Bookshop

116 CHRISTOPHER STREET, NEW YORK 14, N. Y.

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