John Horne Burns

John Horne Burns brought The Gallery back from World War II, and on publication in 1947 it became a critically-acclaimed bestseller. However, Burns's early death at the age of 36 led to the subsequent neglect of this searching book, which captures the shock the war dealt to the preconceptions and ideals of the victorious Americans. Set in occupied Naples in 1944, The Gallery takes its name from the Galleria Umberto, a bombed-out arcade where everybody in town comes together in pursuit of food, drink, sex, money, and oblivion. A daring and enduring novel—one of the first to look directly at gay life in the military—The Gallery poignantly conveys the mixed feelings of the men and women who fought the war that made America a superpower.

Contains: Before dark (1893) / by Marcel Proust ; translated by Richard Howard -- Mabel Neathe (1903) / by Gertrude Stein -- Prologue to Women in love (1921) / by D.H. Lawrence -- Miss Ogilvy finds herself (1926) / by Radclyffe Hall -- Arthur Snatchfold (1928) / by E.M. Forster -- Divorce in Naples (1931) / by William Faulkner -- Just boys (1931-1934) / by James T. Farrell -- The knife of the times (1932) / by William Carlos Williams -- The sea change / by Ernest Hemingway -- Momma (1947) / by John Horne Burns -- Pages from Cold Point (1950) / by Paul Bowles -- Letters and life (1952) / by Christopher Isherwood -- My brother writes poetry for an Englishman (1953) / by Marris Murray -- Two on a party (1954) / by Tennessee Williams -- You may safely gaze (1956) / by James Purdy -- Pages from an abandoned journal (1956) / by Gore Vidal -- Johnnie (1958) / by Joan O'Donovan -- The threesome (1961) / by Helen Essary Ansell -- A step towards Gomorrah (1961) / by Ingeborg Bachmann ; translated by Michael Bullock -- Jurge Dulrumple (1962) / by John O'Hara -- The wreck (1962) / by Maude Hutchins -- The beautiful room is empty (1966) / by Edmund White -- Chagrin in three parts (1967) / by Graham Greene -- Miss A. and Miss M. (1972) / by Elizabeth Taylor -- Burning th bed (1973) / by Doris Betts -- Middle children (1975) / by Jane Rule.