Henry James and Homo-Erotic Desire

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Review: from the reviews ofHENRY JAMES AND HOMO-EROTIC DESIREEdited by John R. BradleyBradley declares at the outset that the contributors to Henry James and Homo-Erotic Desire make no attempt to identify James as a gay novelist, much less claim him as a gay icon for our time. Rather, they attempt to explore homo-eroticism in both his life and works as a legitimate area of inquiry, one that has not yet been sufficiently examined by Jamesean critics . . . . Certainly the book appears at a time when the image of James as a repressed, asexual author living only for his art seems untenable, and a new image is taking its place . . . . These essays mark an important paradigm shift in James studies and reveal a rich dimension to James¹s life and writing that has too long been ignored.Mark Eaton, THE BOSTON BOOK REVIEW (12/98)Until recently, Henry James's homo-eroticism was regarded as mainly a fantasy ideal ­ nothing nastily physical to disturb the dignity of literature. In reaction, queer critics have tended to presume the obverse of that: James was tormented and therefore secretive about a love which he couldn¹t properly express, in his life or his writing. John R. Bradley, introducing Henry James and Homo-Erotic Desire, proposes a third account: James loved boys sexually and sometimes physically, but, like any conservative Victorian gentleman, believed it was not the kind of thing one talked about. . . . For Bradley, this amounts to a welcome opportunity to retrieve James¹s self-composure, together with scholarship and common sense. For myself, I¹ve always found James¹s fastidious prose hard to get on with: this book makes him more approachable and engaging.Alan Sinfield, GAY TIMES (4/99)Bradley is right to sacrifice consistency to variety, to allow each argument to stand or fall on the merits . . . . The contributors to Henry James and Homo-Erotic Desireopt . . . for conservative methods, relying on biography, homosexual codes and common good sense to substantiate James¹s same-sex yearnings.Wendy Graham, THE HENRY JAMES REVIEW (3/99)Few writers have put the closet to better literary uses than Henry James. . . . The contributors to the volume agree that James¹s writing is premised on the rejection of compulsory heterosexuality. They observe that James also attempts to define lesbianism and male homosexuality as minority sexual identities ­ a process ongoing through the course of his career.Richard Dellamora, 19TH-CENTURY LITERATURE (3/99)