Ann Bannon

A 1950s pulp fiction tale set in the University of Illinois in which shy Laura embarks on a love affair with her college roommate, the brash, straightforward Beth.

Odd Girl Out

The first in a series of groundbreaking 1950s lesbian pulp novels introduces readers to a teenage butch farm girl loosed on Beat-era New York City. Original.

Beebo Brinker

The classic 1950s novel from the Queen of Lesbian Pulp. "For contemporary readers the books offer a valuable record of gay and lesbian life in the 1950s. Most are set in Greenwich Village, and Ms. Bannon’s descriptions of bars, clubs and apartment parties vividly evoke a vanished community. Her characters also have historical value. Whereas most lesbians in pulp are stereotypes who get punished for their desires, Beebo and her friends are accessibly human. Their struggles with love and relationships are engrossing today, and half a century ago they were revolutionary." —New York Times "Sex. Sleeze. Depravity. Oh, the twisted passions of the twilight world of lesbian pulp fiction." —Chicago Free Press "Little did Bannon know that her stories would become legends, inspiring countless fledgling dykes to flock to the Village, dog-eared copies of her books in hand, to find their own Beebos and Lauras and others who shared the love they dared not name." —San Francisco Bay Guardian "Ann Bannon is a pioneer of dyke drama." —On Our Backs "When I was young, Bannon's books let me imagine myself into her New York City neighborhoods of short-haired, dark-eyed butch women and stubborn, tight-lipped secretaries with hearts ready to be broken. I would have dated Beebo, no question." —Dorothy Allison "Bannon's books grab you and don't let go." —Village Voice

I Am a Woman

Women in the shadows 

Lily Tomlin

Ann Bannon's Pulp Classics

Beebo Brinker Omnibus

The classic 1950s novel from the Queen of Lesbian Pulp, Odd Girl Out is the first part of Ann Bannon's Beebo Brinker series.

Designated the "queen of lesbian pulp fiction" for authoring five landmark novels, Ann Bannon's work defined lesbian fiction for the pre-Stonewall generation. Unlike many writers of the period, however, Bannon broke through the shame and isolation typically portrayed in lesbian pulps, offering instead women characters who embrace their sexuality against great odds. With Beebo Brinker, Bannon introduces the title character, a butch 17-year-old farm girl newly arrived in New York after she is driven from her Wisconsin home town for wearing drag to the State Fair. Befriended by the gay Jack Mann, a father figure with a weakness for runaways, Beebo sets out to find love. She never knew what she wanted — until she came to Greenwich Village and found the love that smolders in the shadows of the twilight world. The 880-page Beebo Brinker Omnibus includes the novels Beebo Brinker, I Am a Woman, Journey to a Woman, Odd Girl Out, and Women in the Shadows. Sexy, dangerous, and often touching, the paperbacks sold millions. Chronicling the reality of 1950s lesbian life, Beebo Brinker is an astounding and engaging read.

Kate Niemczyk

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