Queens (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Queens
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Pickles
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Quartet Books
pub_date = 1984
english_pub_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 289 pp
isbn = ISBN 0704300389
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Queens" is a novel, written in 1984 by an author under the pseudonym Pickles, which describes gay life in London.

tyle

The novel is written in a variety of styles: third-person omniscient narrator, overheard dialogue, and diary entries. The novel reads, in many ways, like journalism as it mentions numerous real-life bars, pubs, and cruising spots", as well as other less gay parts of the city. Heaven and the Coleherne, and The Bell on Pentonville Road are just three of the main gay locations mentioned in the novel.

Literary significance and reception

It was "lambasted by the gay press for its allegedly 'negative' portrayal of London's gay community" [cite web | title="Queens" review | last= | first= | work=The Guardian online | url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/top10s/top10/0,,523071,00.html | date= | accessdate=2008-02-20 ] . Part of the controversy was due to the depiction of characters in the novel. Many are lonely, bored or superficial. The author's own interviews contributed to the controversy, both for his insistence that he needn't present an affirmative picture of gay life in London and also for his unwillingness to publicly come out.

The novel has been described as "a funny, and kind of mean, taxonomy, of gay types in London in the Thatcher years." [cite web | title="Queens" comment | last= | first= | work=Calamus Books | url=http://www.calamusbooks.com/newsletters/7/6/index.html | date= | accessdate=2008-02-20 ] . Instead of names, the author often refers to characters by their position in gay life: Clone, Opera Queen, Northern Queen, Leather Queen, City Queen, Rent Boy, Insidious Queen. The author also accepts genderfucking names that gay men use for each other: Doris Mavis, Gloria.

Footnotes

References

*cite web | title=Paul Burston's Favorite Gay Literature | last= | first= | work=The Guardian | url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/top10s/top10/0,,523071,00.html | date= | accessdate=2008-02-20
*cite journal | last= | first= | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Taken to Heart | journal=Calamus Bookstore | volume=Vol. VII | issue=No. 6
pages= | publisher= | date=August 2007 | url= | doi= | id= | accessdate=