Beebo Brinker (novel)
First edition cover
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| Author | Ann Bannon |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Beebo Brinker Chronicles |
| Genre | Lesbian pulp fiction |
| Publisher |
Gold Medal Books Naiad Press Cleis Press |
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Publication date
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1962 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | (2003 edition) |
| OCLC | 47198456 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3552.A495 B44 2003 |
| Preceded by | Journey to a Woman |
Beebo Brinker is a lesbian pulp fiction novel written in 1962 by Ann Bannon (pseudonym of Ann Weldy). It is the last in a series of pulp fiction novels that eventually came to be known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. It was originally published in 1962 by Gold Medal Books, again in 1983 by Naiad Press, and again in 2001 by Cleis Press. Each edition was adorned with a different cover. Although this is the last in the series, it is set first — a prequel to the others. In the order of the series, it follows Journey to a Woman. However, in the order of the events and characters in the series, Beebo Brinker takes place several years before Odd Girl Out does.
As Bannon explained in the 2001 edition foreword to Odd Girl Out, Gold Medal Press publishers had control over the cover art and the title. Bannon's publisher titled the book. Lesbian pulp fiction books usually showed suggestive art with obscure titles that hinted at what the subject matter was inside. The painting on the first edition cover is by Robert McGinnis.
Jack Mann finds Beebo Brinker (real name Betty Jean — she was unable to pronounce it as a child) wandering the streets of Greenwich Village. Beebo is 18 years old, tall and handsome, vacillating between overconfidence and vulnerability after leaving her family's farm in Wisconsin for New York City. Beebo is clearly welling up with a terrible secret that forced her to move east, and guilt that comes with leaving her father alone.
Jack helps Beebo get a job delivering pizzas (one of the advantages is that she can wear pants) for Pete, who is a little creepy, and his wife who cooks. Jack also allows Beebo to live with him until she gets on her feet, and allows her the time and space to ask the questions he knows she needs to ask. When she admits her frank admiration for a woman she sees, Jack tells her about lesbians, and she reacts with obvious fascination. He escorts her to several gay bars in the Village where she is astonished and touched by what she recognizes in herself.
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