Strange Relations: Masculinity, Sexuality and Art in Mid-Century America

Ralf Webb

Rated 0

Biography: literary, Literary essays, Social & cultural history

Imprint

Sceptre
- Trade Paperback Oct 29, 2024 | 9781399713221 | RRP $34.99 Pre-Order
- Hardback Oct 29, 2024 | 9781399713214 | RRP $55.00 Pre-Order
- e-Book Jul 25, 2024 | 9781399713238 | RRP $15.99 Pre-Order
- Audiobook Jul 25, 2024 | 9781399713245 | RRP $44.99 Pre-Order
Imprint

Sceptre
- Trade Paperback Oct 29, 2024 | 9781399713221 | RRP $34.99 Pre-Order
- Hardback Oct 29, 2024 | 9781399713214 | RRP $55.00 Pre-Order
- e-Book Jul 25, 2024 | 9781399713238 | RRP $15.99 Pre-Order
- Audiobook Jul 25, 2024 | 9781399713245 | RRP $44.99 Pre-Order
Imprint

Sceptre
- Trade Paperback Oct 29, 2024 | 9781399713221 | RRP $34.99 Pre-Order
- Hardback Oct 29, 2024 | 9781399713214 | RRP $55.00 Pre-Order
- e-Book Jul 25, 2024 | 9781399713238 | RRP $15.99 Pre-Order
- Audiobook Jul 25, 2024 | 9781399713245 | RRP $44.99 Pre-Order
Imprint

Sceptre
- Trade Paperback Oct 29, 2024 | 9781399713221 | RRP $34.99 Pre-Order
- Hardback Oct 29, 2024 | 9781399713214 | RRP $55.00 Pre-Order
- e-Book Jul 25, 2024 | 9781399713238 | RRP $15.99 Pre-Order
- Audiobook Jul 25, 2024 | 9781399713245 | RRP $44.99 Pre-Order

From a Forward Prize shortlisted young British poet: An investigation of masculinity, bisexuality and queerness, routed through the lives and works of four mid-century writers

'Textured literary portraits of the masculine mind and body'
Raymond Antrobus, author of The Perseverance

In October 1960, James Baldwin and John Cheever spoke on a panel together at San Francisco State College. The troubled state of American society was under discussion, which Baldwin incisively diagnosed as a 'failure of the masculine sensibility'.

Strange Relations explores this crisis in mid-century masculinity and the lives and works of four bisexual writers who fought to express and embody alternate possibilities. Building on Walt Whitman's philosophy of the love between men, Ralf Webb considers the ways in which Tennessee Williams and Carson McCullers, as well as Cheever and Baldwin, resisted in their art, as well as in their relationships, the damaging expectations of contemporary gender and sexuality.

With a curious, intelligent and sensitive gaze, Ralf Webb sheds new light on each writer. Together, these artists offer a powerful and moving argument for a transformative new masculinity, grounded in fluidity, love and intimacy.

'Webb's writing is of a quality rarely seen, and his book returns you to the world slightly changed, equipped with another angle of vision on the quiddity of man'
Diarmuid Hester, author of Nothing Ever Just Disappears

Praise for Strange Relations: Masculinity, Sexuality and Art in Mid-Century America

Textured literary portraits of the masculine mind and body. Webb has skilfully blended narratives of maleness, queer desire and gender norms with mid-century American cultural critiques. If you're a fan of Judith Butler, Hilton Als, Mark Doty, you will love Webb's Strange Relations
A compassionate, imaginative, inquisitive book about men, how American authors like Carson McCullers, Tennessee Williams, and James Baldwin wrote about masculinity, and how they imagined relationships between men-and women. Webb's writing is of a quality rarely seen, and his book returns you to the world slightly changed, equipped with another angle of vision on the quiddity of man
Impressive . . . tender, unflinching - Guardian, on ROTTEN DAYS IN LATE SUMMER
Brilliant . . . heralds the arrival of a frank and vital poetic voice
Frank and alert . . . an important voice in British poetry