Other selections include Edward Carpenter's now unavailable

and generally unknown THE INTERME DIATE SEX Much of its material is now outdated but, as Cory points out, it is a prime example of how homosexuality rel.ects the mores of whatever culture it occurs in. Car. pen.e: being essentially a late Victorian Puritan who sought to preach Puritan ethics to homosexuals There is also Sir Richard Burton's Terminal Essay to the unexpurgated ARABIAN NIGHTS which contains a wealth of detailed information on homoerot;cis in general, and more especially in the Near East, written with a bluntness approached by few mod-

erns

Hans Licht s outline of the classi cal Greek world's attitudes towards inale inversion is perhaps the most detailed and authoritative account of it in English, and should be thorough. ly studied, since the average homo. erouc has only a general knowledge of it based upon hearsay There is also a lack of detailed knowledge concerning it among those who in modern times attempt 10 Greek ideals The situation a. mong the Greeks was partially dependent upon cultural factors that no longer exist in modern times, and their ideal was paedophilia, the love of an older man for a boy in his teens, rather rather than a relationship between two mature individuals

revive

A previously untranslated article by Voltaire effectively sums up the merits and demerits of the views of 18th century liberalism A discussion of the hormonal theory of homosexuality's origin by Kinsey shows that

Det RING

it will have to explain more facts than it does at present. Doctor Gilbert Van Tassel discusses homosexuality as a defense against unconsciously incestuous advances by the parent, and seems to have some justification for his views in some

cases.

Mortis Ploscowe, the Executive Director of the Commission on Organized Crime, sums up contemporary knowledge and the present judicial situation brilliantly and objectively. dispassionately pointing out the demerits of the presen: legal procedures Two of Albert Ellis' aggressively stimulating articles are reprinted from One and The Matta. chine Review Selections by Mantegazza and Westmarck are included, their main value being that they show the beginnings of an awareness of the existence and nature of the forms of sexual deviation dawning upon the mind of the modern world

A thought-provoking address given by Cory to the International Committee for Sexual Equality at Frankfort in 1952 is the concluding selection Among other things he suggests that since so much of the modern world now takes its cue from the United States, any changes in attitudes that occur there powerfully affect world ones He also comments that the rights and integration of its minority groups, of which the homosexuals are one. is perhaps its most important domestic problem.

All in all, this is one of the most important non-fictional works púb lished in English concerning homoeroticism in the past five years.

International magazine in German, some articles in English. Submit subscriptions ($5.00 U.S.) by Intl. Bank Draft

or Cash to the Editor:

GERHARD PRESCHA, Alsterchaussee 311, Hamburg 13, Germany

mattachine REVIEW

Subject 'Delicately Handled'

STRANGE FRIENDS. Agnete Holk. Translated from the Danish by Anthony Hinton. Pyramid Books, 1955. 35c. Reviewed by Jack Parrish.

The cover, the title, and the method of issuance of this novel lead the reader to expect something suggestive and cheaply trivial Conse. quently, one's pleasure is all the greater upon, discovering it to be a poignantly moving human document

The story concerns a female Da. nish homophile in the early twenties. her difficulties in accepting herself and her eventual achieving of a satisfactory emotional relationship What it is actually is a love story. written with a wonderful quality of beautiful simplicity and existing or a high level of integrity For once the interest lies in the characters being living, breathing human beings, instead of the unusualness of the subject matter. There is a complete ab. sence of any sort of mawkishness. despite the stress laid upon the central character's search for someone to love, and no over-emotional sen. timentality whatsoever

Such a book points up all the more the need for creative fictional works about homophiles All too

100 are ol often even the better ones little interest when considered simply as stories. The aims of their writers are indisputably laudably high, but high aims have little to do with the production of believable fiction.

And this is in many ways a

ARCADIE

tragedy

the average

For when homophile reads such works he is primarily seeking for some sort of self-understanding. He is looking for some sort of explanation and dra. matization of himself and the experiences resulting from his drive The usual means available to the heterosexual in achieving such an emotional understanding plays. films, etc. not being available this one remaining means becomes all the more valuable.

What they are usually given to satisfy this need are shallowly superficial stories. permeated with the glibly artificial wit prevalent in homo. sexual circles since the the days of Oscar Wilde, or else negatively con. ceived ones that wander through an interminable number of vaguely introspective chapters to an unimpor tant and indeterminate conclusion. At their best they get sincerely writ ten ones that are "doubtless worthy. but doubtless dull." with only ɑ very lew exceptions to the contrary

The only complaint to be made of this particular one is that no data is given concerning its author. It is obvious, from the quality of its writ ing that she has had much experi ence in the field, and one would like to know more about her. Also, as usual the publishers state that she "has handled the subject with delicacy Just what, pray tell, is supposed to break if it is handled otherwise?

Monthly literary and scientific review. SubArticles in French, some English.

scriptions $9 per year. Address: Arcadie, c/o Cercle de France,

162 Rue Jeanne d'Arc,

Der Weg

Paris XIII, France.

Monthly in German, with some English. Subscriptions should be addressed to Der Weg zu Freundschaft und Toleranz, Color

naden, 5, Hamburg 36, Germany.