HIS69-073 A Young Man’s Fanny
$1.95
$1.95
Foreword
The general purpose of all fiction, from the great tragedies of the Greeks to the most recent best-sellers, has been to reflect life. Shakespeare himself referred to it as “holding the mirror of life” up for close inspection, close introspection. This is one of the prime functions of literature, and for this reason fiction cannot be dismissed lightly, for its very core is sociological reflection.
Often we may not particularly like what we see. Does everyone like Macbeth? The Beautiful and the Damned? Portnoy’s Complaint? Certainly not. And yet, their position in the world of fine literature has been established. They reflect life, they give man a way of identifying with the problems he may not really know he has hidden within himself, and thus helping him to solve them. And they entertain, which is an important aspect of any work of art.
You may, then, not like what you see in A Young Man’s Fanny. It deals with an erotic homosexual relationship, with both the psychological and physical aspects of such a relationship written with candor and honesty, thus reflecting life. It deals with emotions, the starting-point of all great works of fiction, emotions that the reader himself can feel.
And this is important, for if the reader feels something while reading Bert Shrader’s novel, then he already has a better grasp on what a homosexual relationship is like, what human relationship is like, and what the associated emotions are all about. Thus, he’s holding up that mirror of life that Shakespeare spoke of—and looking in a mirror can be extremely helpful, as we all know.
The author makes no apologies that the book deals with sexual relationships—homosexual relationships, in fact. He assumes homosexuality is a part of life, and he does not attempt to delve into facts and figures, leaving them up to the doctors and psychiatrists whose job it is to write books of that nature. He is a novelist, and he provides that balance in literature whereby the reader can better judge what life is all about in relation, in this case, to his own sex drive and the course it takes, whether hetero or homosexual.
A word of caution—if some readers are offended by looking into a mirror where explicit sex is portrayed, then this novel is not for you. To leave out the sex would be to leave out the core of Mr. Shrader’s characters, to pull their hearts out, as it were.
But, as many psychologists say (including the father of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud), a majority of man’s actions and reactions have an erotic base and sex is one of the fundamental drives of the human personality. If you agree, this book is recommended for you, a person who finds sex an honest and good part of your life.
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