the only homosexuals that he has met, then I have news for him. He has only scratched the surface! Nowhere does he allude to the vast group of homosexuals who work and live completely unnoticed, who do not haunt gay bars, gay beaches, etc., who take part in civic activities in their own communities (Mr. Stearn was unbelievably shocked when he happened to overhear a political discussion in a "gay" bar), who do contribute something, despite what Mr. Stearn would like us to believe, to our present day civilization, whether it be in the teaching or medical professions, business or financial world, or the artistic and creative fields. Mr. Stearn's book, then, discusses only the flip side of the record. The best (and actually the most ordinary) product is on the other side, and is not even, perhaps, apparent to him.

The concluding paragraphs in the book, though not his own words, apparently just about sums up the fruit of the author's laborious toils into the subject. I hope you have the same reaction that I did.

"Meanwhile, society, as some see it, will soon have to come to grips with this pressing problem. 'The task will not be easy,' one eminent authority pointed out, 'for either the homosexual or society. The homosexual will have to learn a great deal about himself, and some of his knowledge will not be palatable. We must be prepared for him to stumble and even to fall. And we must face the fact, not always pleasant, that he is here to stay!

Edouard Marques

THE SOT-WEED FACTOR by John Barth. Doubleday & Co., 1960. $7.50.

This is an enormous bawdy historical adventure novel. Only saving the bawdiness from pornography is the

one

hilariousness. There is also an intellectual and literary quality, and basically it is serious and a first-rate satire. This combination is delightful, and I hereby join the book's cult, for a cult I'm sure it already has.

Homosexuality is sprinkled throughout, and one aspect, the relationship between the Don-Quixotelike hero and his tutor (who as a youth is a lover of Sir Isaac Newton) is more than just a sprinkle. Its highpoint is the following speech the tutor makes to his ex-pupil:

"But shall it blind ye to the beauty of the male, sir? Not if ye've Plato's eyes, or Shakespeare's. How comely is a wellformed man! That handsome cage of ribs, and the blocky muscles of his calves and thighs; the definition of his hands, ridged and squared with veins and tendons, and more pleasing than a woman's to the eye; the hair of his chest, that the nicest sculptors cannot render; and noblest of all, his manhood in repose! What contrast to that sweet unclutteredness of women! The chiefest fault of the sculpting Greeks, methinks, is that their marble men have the parts of little boys: 'tis pederastic art, and I abhor it. How wondrous had they carved the living truth, that folk in ancient times were wont to worship-the very mace and orbs of kingly power!"

A summary of the wild plot-filled with mistaken identities, imposters, whores, rogues, Indians, and pirates -is impossible. You'll meet some fascinating lovable characters, like The Traveling Whore of Dorset, and see some very original historical research, like how Captain John Smith managed, where all other men had failed, to take Pocahontas's maidenhead.

In short: A rare book, highly recommended.

A.E.S.