Imre: A Memorandum (Homosexuality)

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful edition of an important work
Review: Oswald, a British aristocrat, meets the Hungarian soldier Imre in Budapest, and they develop a friendship. After some time, Oswald confesses his homosexuality and fears losing his new friend, but Imre's own confession changes both their lives. Privately published in 1906 under the alias Xavier Mayne, "Imre: A Memorandum" is one of the earliest novels with positive homosexual characters, and is especially notable for its happy ending. The story is more of a discourse about homosexuality and serves somewhat as a precursor to the author's later study, "The Intersexes". In his introduction and through various appendices, James Gifford tells about Stevenson's life, includes some other excerpts from Stevenson's works, and includes a review of "Imre" from 1907. This is a fascinating edition of an important work in queer literature.