or dead) is the limit for the few remaining heterosexuals. Unfortunately, Burgess has failed miserably with the novel. The theme has barely been developed and the narrative pace crawls along as if imbedded in molasses. It is a much more unsuccessful treatment, for instance, than even Charles Beaumont's short story, "The Crooked Man." This is such a good idea that one hopes a better writer will develop the theme thoroughly someday. The part that is hard to imagine is why Burgess thought he could write about homosexuals on a world-wide basis when apparently he hasn't met one who wasn't swishy.

Morris L. West is becoming another author to watch as a matter of course. Almost everyone is familiar with his use of male homosexuality in his famous novel, The Devil's Advocate (Morrow, 1959, Dell, 1960). However, he has also used the subject in two other novels. In The Crooked Road (Morrow, 1957, Dell, 1962), there is a minor male homosexual theme. The book is a good fast paced adventure suspense novel. His latest novel, The Shoes of the Fisherman, (Morrow, 1963) is almost equally divided into two parts. One story is of the election of a "maverick" Pope. The other story is of the marital life of an American news analyst and commentator who is in love with a woman married to a prominent Italian homosexual. At first the homosexual is portrayed as a rather ugly-weak individual but by the end of the novel he is admirable in a left-handed fashion.

It becomes increasingly apparent that homosexuals and homosexuality is staple fare for novelists-not just the sensational aspects, but just as everyday people. This is a very good sign, of course, of the trend toward personal sexual freedom. Jeannette Howard Foster in her book, Sex Var iant Women in Literature (Vantage, 1956), still the only really comprehensive study of lesbianism in general, despite the limiting title, states a belief that the literature reflects the age. Accepting this premise we have a certain cause for rejoicing in the prevalence of homosexual literature and the much greater quantity of individual incidents and portraits in all kinds of novels not directly concerned with the subject. This also has a "snowball" effect in that the novelist is a propaganda tool to a certain extent.

CALLING SHOTS (Continued from page 2)

Finally, wouldn't it be in order to realize that liberties diminish in every nation where church and state are not separate, and that this separation denies no one the right to worship as he chooses? And to re20

cognize that mankind has a right to individual expression, a right which applies to his private sexual expression with another consenting adult, so long as there is no harm or force, or so long as no non-consenting third party is involved? We think so.

mattachine REVIEW

BOOKS in review

QUEER PEOPLE: THE TRUTH ABOUT HOMOSEXUALS, by Douglas Plummer. London: W. H. Allen, 1963. 122 pp. $3.50. Reviewed by William Parker.

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So many books have appeared on the subject of male homosexuality in the last few years that a large part of what can be said without careful documentation or without further detailed research has already been written. Plummer's brief essay, stating his views on this still controversial issue, has nothing specifically new to add but is valuable as the personalized commentary of an admitted British homosexual to place alongside the more comprehensive, better written, and more analytical pioneer work of Donald Webster Cory on the homosexual in America.

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Intended originally for publication in British newspapers, Plummer's articles were rejected by five different editors on the dubious grounds that "public opinion is not yet ready for them." Now enlarged and rewritten, they have been published in book form in an attempt "to tell the truth" about homosexuals, to enlighten the uninformed, and to help individual homosexuals to understand themselves better and to lead more satisfactory lives. The term “queer" rather than homosexual is used to make sure that all who see or read the book will know exactly what subject is being discussed.

Flummer (not his real name) maintains that the number of homosexuals is larger than most people think; that there is no evidence to support claims that the percentage of the total population which is homosexual has recently increased; that most homosexuals are indistinguishable from "normal" people; that homosexuality must be seen as a condition over which the individual has no choice and not as a disease which can be cured; that homosexuals are no more immoral in their behavior nor any more security risks than heterosexuals; that many homosexuals are not promiscuous and would like nothing better than to settle down with another person of like nature; and that free and open discussion is necessary if the lot of the homosexual is to improve. What homosexuals want is stated simply and directly: freedom from fear of persecution and rejection, recognition and toleration by officials and their fellow human beings, remoyal of the știg-