''Street of Stairs'' is a 1968 novel by the American dramatist

Ronald Tavel Ronald Tavel (May 17, 1936 – March 23, 2009) was an American screenwriter, director, novelist, poet and actor, best known for his work with Andy Warhol and The Factory. Early life and career Born in Brooklyn, New York, Tavel graduated fro ...

. It was published by

Olympia Press Olympia Press was a Paris-based publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebranded version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from his father Jack Kahane. It published a mix of erotic fiction and avant-garde literary fiction, and is bes ...

in a seriously-abridged form—over half of the book was excised—but Tavel later released the original, unabridged version of the book online. It is a

pederastic Pederasty or paederasty ( or ) is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a pubescent or adolescent boy. The term ''pederasty'' is primarily used to refer to historical practices of certain cultures, particularly ancient Greece and anc ...

and

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

novel that follows the life of Mark, an expatriate in

Tangier, Morocco Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the ca ...

, who falls in love with Hamid, a thief.

Publication

The novel was published by the

in 1968. In their publication, Olympia Press excised over half of the book, even though, according to literary critic

Richard Kostelanetz Richard Cory Kostelanetz (born May 14, 1940) is an American artist, author, and critic. Birth and Education Kostelanetz was born to Boris Kostelanetz and Ethel Cory and is the nephew of the conductor Andre Kostelanetz. He has a B.A. (1962) from ...

, they promised Tavel that they would publish the work in its entirety. Later in life, Tavel released a scan of the unabridged version of ''Street of Stairs'' on his personal website.

Plot

While dozens of characters have their own narratives throughout the novel, the story focuses on Mark, an

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

, falling in love with Hamid, a thief. In one scene, Mark is talking to a Moroccan who says, "I can ''niki'' fucktwenty whores in one night. And if a pretty little boy passes in the street after that—twenty one", and that he is paid to have sex with older men.

Reception

LGBT studies scholar Michael Perkins wrote that the

quality of the novel makes the city of Tangier, not Mark, "the protagonist of the novel". Kostelanetz criticized Olympia Press' decision to cut out a substantial amount of the book, and said that Tavel has not received "the respectful attention" that his work ultimately warrants.

Ira L. Reiss Ira Leonard Reiss (born 1925) is a sociologist with primary interests in studying the way society impacts sexual attitudes and behaviors and how people respond to those pressures. He also has interests in the study of gender and family, particul ...

wrote that the scene is illustrative of the dynamics of

sexual penetration Sexual penetration is the insertion of a body part or other object into a body orifice, such as the mouth, vagina or anus, as part of human sexual activity or animal sexual behavior. The term is most commonly used in statute law in the context ...

in the region: That while

anal sex Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. ...

is not necessarily condemned, the person who is penetrated (

the bottom The Bottom (formerly ''Botte'') is the capital and largest town of the island of Saba, the Caribbean Netherlands, and is the first stop on the way from Saba's Port in Fort Bay towards the rest of the island. In 2001, it had 462 inhabitants of the ...

) is seen as socially inferior. The novel is

. According to pederasty researcher Parker Rossman, ''Street of Stairs'' is one of several novels about male foreigners going to the Barbary Coast—from Tunisia to Morocco—to have sex with young boys, which has a pronounced effect on the characters' "sexual behavior and life-styles". Similarly, LGBT studies scholar James T. Sears called the book one of the "

erotic classics" alongside Leo Skir's '' Boychick'' and

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

's '' The White Paper''. After reading the novel,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

met with Tavel; they grew close, and Tavel wrote part of the script for Warhol's film, ''

Chelsea Girls ''Chelsea Girls'' is a 1966 American experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol's first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films (both feature-length and short). It w ...

''.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{refend 1960s LGBT novels 1968 American novels American LGBT novels Censored books Pederastic literature