The City and the Pillar

infobox Book |
name = The City and the Pillar
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Gore Vidal
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York
release_date = January 10, 1948
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 314
isbn = N/A
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The City and the Pillar" is the third published novel by American writer and essayist Gore Vidal written in 1946 and published on January 10, 1948. The story is about a young man who is coming of age and discovers his own homosexuality. [Austen, Roger. "Playing the Game: The Homosexual Novel in America", (New York, Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.), page 119.]

"The City and the Pillar" is significant because it is recognized as the first post-World War II novel whose openly gay and well-adjusted protagonist is not killed off at the end of the story for defying social norms. It is also recognized as one of the "definitive war-influenced gay novels," being one of the few books dealing directly with male homosexuality. In addition, it was among the few gay novels reprinted in inexpensive paperback form as early as the 1950s . [Stryker, Susan. "Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback", (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books), pages 17 and 103.] [Bronksi, Michael. "Pulp Friction: Uncovering the Golden Age of Gay Male Pulps", (New York, St. Martin's Griffin), page 343.]

In 1965, Vidal released an updated version of the novel titled "The City and the Pillar Revised."

Plot summary

The plot centers on "Jim Willard", a handsome youth in Virginia in the late 1930s, who is also a very good tennis player. When his best friend "Bob Ford", one year his senior, is about to leave high school, the two make a camping trip into the woods. Both are elated to be in each other's company and after some moaning from Bob how difficult it is to get the local girls to have sex with him, the two havе sex, even though Bob thinks this is not a "normal" thing for two men to do.

Jim, to whom it has already occurred that girls do not appeal to him as much, hopes Bob can stay and is crushed when Bob is insistent on joining the United States Merchant Marines. The next seven years of Jim's life will be an odyssey, at the end of which he hopes to be happily reunited with Bob.

Jim decides he wants to go to sea too and becomes a cabin boy on a cruise ship after going to New York to look for work. Another seaman on his ship, Collins, goes out with him in Seattle, but is more interested in a double date with two girls than sex with Jim. The date is a disaster for Jim, who must realize that he is unable to drink enough to overcome being repelled by the female body. When he finally storms out, Collins calls him a queer, which causes him to think about this possibility.

He quits his job, fearing another confrontation with Collins, and becomes a tennis instructor at a hotel in Los Angeles. One of the bellboys, Leaper, whose advances he has spurned previously, introduces him to the circle around the mid-thirties Hollywood actor "Ronald Shaw", who immediately takes interest in Jim. Eventually, Jim moves in with Ronald, even though he is not really in love with him.

Their affair is ended when Jim meets the writer "Paul Sullivan" at a party, who is in his late twenties. Jim is drawn to Paul because he seems so different from the other, more stereotypical homosexuals he meets at Hollywood parties, even having married once (although that marriage was later annulled).

When Shaw learns of their relationship, Jim is quite happy to move with Paul to New Orleans. Again, he is not in love with Paul but with his boyhood pal, but he considers Paul adequate for the time being. Paul however, needing some pain in his relationships for artistic inspiration, introduces Jim to "Maria Verlaine", who seems to specialize in seducing homosexuals, hoping his relationship will end in a suitably tragic way. Together, the three go to Yucatán, where Maria has made an inheritance. Jim does feel vaguely attracted to Maria, but he is unable to perform sexually. All the same, for Paul even an imagined affair of his boyfriend with a woman is as painful as he had hoped and warrants a breakup.

In the meantime, World War II has started in Europe and Paul and Jim are determined to go to New York to enlist in the Army. This of course also means their separation. Jim gets transferred to a Colorado Air Force base, where his sergeant is clearly sexually interested in him. But Jim has set his sights on a young corporal. Unfortunately, the corporal does not seem to like him in "that" way, even though the sergeant later seems to succeed with the corporal.

Due to the cold Colorado weather, Jim contracts rheumatoid arthritis and is eventually discharged from service. He goes back to New York, where he meets Maria and Ronald again. Ronald has been forced to marry a lesbian by studio executives to uphold his public image and tries unsuccessfully to become a stage actor. He also introduces Jim to his local friends like an effeminate millionaire. Jim begins frequenting gay bars to find sexual relief. Later, he meets Paul at a party and the two start an open relationship, not because of passion, but out of loneliness.

When Jim finally goes home for Christmas, he learns that his father is dead and (more alarming to him) that Bob has married. Hoping their affair can resume despite this, Jim is anxious to see him again.

The resolution of their relationship comes again in New York, where they end up on the bed in Bob's hotel room. But when Jim finally thinks he has attained what he wants and moves closer, Bob panics, is outraged to be thought of as gay, and even punches Jim in the face. The two struggle, and Jim is infuriated enough to murder Bob, realizing that Bob is basically just as homophobic as everyone else from his hometown. [Austen, Roger. "Playing the Game: The Homosexual Novel in America", (New York, Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.), pages 119-121.]

Major themes

* One major theme is the portrayal of the homosexual man as both normal and masculine. Gore set out to break the mold of novels that up until "The City and the Pillar" depicted homosexuals as transvestites, lonely bookish boys, or feminine. Gore purposely makes his protagonist a strong athlete to challenge superstitions about sex in the United States. To further this theme Vidal wrote the novel in plain, objective prose in order to convey and document reality. [Vidal, Gore. "The City and the Pillar and Seven Early Stories", (New York, NY: Random House), page xiii.]

* Vidal's appeal for a lifting of the laws that banned homosexual sex acts in the U.S. at the time.
* A third theme reinforced by the quote behind the title page reveals the book to be about the stupidity of looking back over your life and desiring a certain period or thing. Instead one should just live for the future not for the past.

Reception and Critical Analysis

"The City and the Pillar" sparked a public scandal, including notoriety and criticism, for being the first book by an accepted American author to portray overt homosexuality as a natural behavior. [Bronksi, Michael. "Pulp Friction: Uncovering the Golden Age of Gay Male Pulps", (New York, St. Martin's Griffin), page 343.] The controversial reception began before the novel hit bookshelves. Prior to its even being published an editor at E.P. Dutton said to Vidal, "You will never be forgiven for this book. Twenty years from now you will still be attacked for it." [Vidal, Gore. "The City and the Pillar and Seven Early Stories", (New York, NY: Random House), page xiii.]

Vidal himself said "shock was the most pleasant emotion aroused in the press." [Vidal, Gore. "The City and the Pillar and Seven Early Stories", (New York, NY: Random House), page xiii.] Upon its release The New York Times would not advertise the novel. Vidal was blacklisted after releasing "The City and the Pillar" to the extent that no major newspaper or magazine would review any of his novels for six years. [Vidal, Gore. "The City and the Pillar and Seven Early Stories", (New York, NY: Random House), page xvi.] This forced Vidal to write several subsequent books under pseudonyms. Subsequently he reestablished a popular reputation and resumed using his true name. [Stryker, Susan. "Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback", (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books), page 17.]

At the time Christopher Isherwood privately responded to the novel enthusiastically, whereas Thomas Mann another contemporary writer, privately responded with short politeness. Stephen Spender expressed the notion that the novel was plainly autobiographical and a sexual confession on Vidal's part; this has been denied by Vidal. [Vidal, Gore. "The City and the Pillar and Seven Early Stories", (New York, NY: Random House), page xiv.]

Modern scholars note the importance of the novel to the visibility of gay literature. Michael Bronski points out that "gay-male-themed books received greater critical attention than lesbian ones" and that "writers such as Gore Vidal were accepted as important American writers, even when they received attacks from homophobic critics." Bronski also suggests the mantle of "literary quality" conferred some level of protection from censorship upon the works. [Bronksi, Michael. "Pulp Friction: Uncovering the Golden Age of Gay Male Pulps", (New York, St. Martin's Griffin), page 5.] "The City and the Pillar" is considered by Anthony Slide to be one of only four familiar gay novels of the first half of the twentieth century. The other three novels are Djuna Barnes' "Nightwood", Carson McCullers' "Reflections in a Golden Eye", and Truman Capote's "Other Voices, Other Rooms". [Slide, Anthony. "Lost Gay Novels: A Reference Guide to Fifty Works from the First Half of the Twentieth Century", (Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press), page 2.] "The City and the Pillar" was ranked number 17 on a list of the top 100 gay and lesbian novels compiled by The Publishing Triangle in 1999. [ [http://www.publishingtriangle.org/100best.asp The Publishing Triangle's list of the 100 best lesbian and gay novels] ]

"The City and the Pillar Revised"

In 1965, E.P. Dutton published Vidal's updated version of "The City and the Pillar," simply titled "The City and the Pillar Revised."

In this version, Vidal removed melodramatic narrative and strove to clarify the intended theme of the work. He significantly changed the storyline in the coda so that Jim rapes Bob instead of murdering him. It is commonly believed that the publishers of "The City and the Pillar" (in its original form) coerced Gore to give the original a cautionary ending, but Gore specifically denies this. [Vidal, Gore. "The City and the Pillar Revised", (New York, NY: E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc.) pages 248-249.]

Derivative Works

It was said by Vidal in a 2006 NPR interview that parts of the dynamic of "The City and the Pillar" were softened for the public and applied to the script for Ben-Hur which Vidal and others were called in to re-work.Fact|date=May 2008

Footnotes

References

*cite book | title=Playing the Game: The Homosexual Novel in America| last=Austen | first =Roger | authorlink= | publisher=The Bobbs-Merrill Company| location = Indianapolis | edition =1st ed. | date=1977 | id=ISBN 978-067252287X
*cite book | title=Pulp Friction: Uncovering the Golden Age of Gay Male Pulps | last=Bronski | first =Michael | publisher=St. Martin's Griffin | location=New York, NY | edition =1st ed. | date=2003 | id= ISBN 978-0312252676
*cite book | title=Lost Gay Novels: A Reference Guide to Fifty Works from the First Half of the Twentieth Century | last=Slide | first =Anthony | publisher=Harrington Park Press | location=Binghamton, NY | edition =1st ed. | date=2003 | id= ISBN 978-156023413X
*cite book | title=Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback | last=Stryker | first =Susan | publisher=Chronicle Books | location=San Francisco, CA | edition =1st ed. | date=2001 | id= ISBN 978-0811830209
*cite book | title=The City and the Pillar | last=Vidal | first =Gore | publisher=E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. | location=New York | edition =1st ed. | date=1948 | id=
*cite book | title=The City and the Pillar Revised | last=Vidal | first =Gore | publisher=E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. | location=New York | edition =1st ed. | date=1965 | id=
*cite book | title=The City and the Pillar and Seven Early Stories | last=Vidal | first =Gore | publisher=Random House | location=New York | edition =1st ed. | date=1995 | id=978-067943699