Strange Brother

infobox Book |
name = Strange Brother
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Blair Niles
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre =
publisher = Horace Liveright, New York (Avon Publishing for shown image)
release_date = 1931 (1952 for shown image)
media_type = Print
pages = 341 pp (221 pp for shown image)
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Strange Brother" is a gay novel written by Blair Niles published in 1931. The story is about a platonic relationship between a heterosexual woman and a gay man and takes place in New York City in the late 20s and early 30s.

"Strange Brother" is significant because it provides an early and objective documentation of homosexual issues during the Harlem Renaissance. [Stryker, Susan. "Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback". San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2001, pages 97 & 100.]

Plot introduction

Mark Thornton, the story's protagonist, moves to New York City in hopes of feeling like less of an outsider. At a nightclub in Harlem he meets and befriends June Westbrook. One night they witness a man named Nelly being arrested. June encourages Mark to investigate. This leads Mark to attend Nelly's trial, where he is found guilty and sentenced to six month's imprisonment on Welfare Island for his feminine affections and gestures. Next Mark researches the crimes against nature sections of the penal code. Shaken up by his findings and the events, Mark confesses his own homosexuality to June.

Mark and June's friendship continue to grow, and June introduces Mark to a number of friends in her social circle. Various social interactions ensue including a dinner party for a departing professor, a trip to a nightspot featuring the singer Gladys Bentley and attending a drag ball. Despite reading Walt Whitman's poetry collection "Leaves of Grass", Edward Carpenter's series of papers "Love's Coming of Age", and Countee Cullen's poetry, Mark is afraid to come out. Subsequently Mark is threatened with being outed at work, and his reaction to the situation defines the remainder of the story. [Austen, Roger, "Playing the Game: The Homosexual Novel in America", Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1977, pp 65]

Characters

; Tom Burden : An older gay man and platonic friend who urges Mark to develop his drawing talents. Tom leads Mark to realize his homosexuality before he himself travels abroad.; Philip Crane (Phil) : A handsome, muscular and heterosexual man who studies tropical entomology. Phil is Jane's cousin and companion on whom Mark has a secret crush.; Palmer Fleming : June's ex-husband whom she witnesses dancing with a scantily clad young man at a Drag Ball.; Harold Grant (Nelly) : A 21 year old, outwardly effeminate African American man whose arrest concerns June and Mark.; Irwin Hesse : A professor who is a Jewish man from continental Europe. Dr. Hesse experiments with sex differences in animals, focusing on the endocrine system, polymorphism, and gynandromorphism. Dr. Hesse asserts that sex differences are chemical and "abnormals" make up 2-3% of the general population.; Lilly-Marie : A friend of Mark's who is a gay ex-convict. ; Peggy : A young woman who has a romantic interest in Mark, but marries Phil.; Quinn : An older Irish man who is the janitor at Mark's settlement house.; Rico : A Sicilian boy and fruit vendor whose stand is outside Mark's settlement house. ; Evan Rysdale : An artist whom June befriends while summering at Ogunquit, Maine.; Mark Thornton : The protagonist of the story, Mark is a 22 year old Midwestern man who has traveled to New York City. He is not outwardly effeminate and teaches drawing at a local settlement house.; Seth Vaughn : A young man and distiguished author and lecturer who does not return June Westbrook's affections.; June Westbrook : June is a young heterosexual divorcée who works as a newspaper columnist. She is a central character in the story, being Mark's closest friend.

Reception and critical analysis

"Strange Brother" received mixed reviews upon its publication. Reviewers were not offended by the homosexual theme and noted the situations in the novel were portrayed with tolerance and sympathy rather than approval. The novel was praised for being interesting and informative, but did not receive praise for its execution as an engaging novel that comes to life.

Henry Gerber, a gay critic wrote in 1934, " ["Strange Brother" is] an ideal anti-homosexual propaganda." According to editor and author Anthony Slide, "Strange Brother" illustrates the "basic assumption that gay characters in literature must come to a tragic end." [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 1.]

The book has been praised for its journalistic focus. Ben Duncan's perspective was published in the January 25, 1979 issue of the "Gay News" newspaper, "The book remains and is welcome now, as a monument of good reporting." [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 140.] Susan Stryker, a scholar, notes that " [Blair Niles] treats Manhattan's homosexual subculture much the same way she does any other exotic locale." [Stryker, Susan. "Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback". San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2001, page 97.] Again, Slide notes that Niles' anthropological approach to documenting homosexuality as well as the Harlem Negro in "Strange Brother" "is fascinating to a modern readership." [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 137.]

"Strange Brother" has been reprinted a number of times since its initial 1931 Liveright publication in New York, as follows:

*Thomas Werner Laurie, 1931 (British publication)
*Harris Publishing Company, 1949
*Avon Books, 1952
*Arno Press, 1975
*Gay Men's Press, 1991
*Ayer Company Publishers, 2002

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=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=Strange Brother | last=Niles | first =Blair | publisher=Avon Books | location=New York, NY | edition =reprint | date=1952
*cite book | title=Strange Brother | last=Niles | first =Blair | publisher=Gay Men's Press Publishers | location=London | edition =reprint (Gay Modern Classics) | date=1991 | id= ISBN 978-0854491674
*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