Beebo Brinker

By: Ann Bannon

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

Ann Bannon was designated the “Queen of Lesbian Pulp” for authoring several landmark novels in the ’50s. Unlike many writers of the period, however, Bannon broke through the shame and isolation typically portrayed in lesbian pulps, offering instead characters who embraced their sexuality. With Beebo Brinker, Bannon introduces a butch 17-year-old farm girl newly arrived in Beat-era Greenwich Village.

©1962 Cleis Press (P)2011 Cleis Press

Critic reviews

"The eponymous protagonist is sent packing from her stodgy Wisconsin home after wearing drag to the state fair. She relocates to Greenwich Village, New York's capital of the avant-garde, where she is free to pursue 'love that smolders in the shadows of the twilight world'. This is more kitschy now but still fun for its 1950s sensibilities." ( Library Journal)

What a wonderful experience!

How much I wish I could have read this in 1977. But maybe I needed to wait to truly appreciate this book that holds up so well over the decades. A must read for any lesbian.

It's a BEEBO !

This is a prequel and I stupidly read it first not knowing but what can you do ,if you read the other books first you would all ready be introduced to Miss Brinker but if like me you go here first this introduces you to a young lesbian running away from her past and into the Village a Lesbo Mecca there she meet's the great Jack Mann a Homosexual who take's her in and teaches her about her new world .
This was written in the fifty's it's not just set there, the language and the opinions reflect that fact something of which I found quite fascinating ,Ann Bannon the writer give's an intro and I enjoyed that as much as the book it's self ,also I would like to give a nod to the narrator outstanding.

Last in the Beebo Brinker series, a prequel.

This, the last book of the Beebo Brinker chronicles is really a prequel showing us the influences that shaped Beebo Brinker before the events of the first four novels. Here we see the life of a butch, a woman with boyish features who wants to dress like a boy. In later years she might have considered herself a transgender person. In the 1950’s such a boyish looking woman would have been considered a freak. She came to New York City at age 18 having run away from a Wisconsin small town. She meets Jack, who is introduced in this book as well as being around age 33, having served as a paramedic in the military during WWII. Beebo comes under Jack’s protection as she gets her first lessons in relationships with a woman. It’s also very compelling.