André Gide, renowned French essayist, novelist,
and playwright, was a homosexual whose sexuality was central to
the whole of his literary and political discourse. In the first
serious study of homosexuality in Gide's theater and fiction,
Patrick Pollard analyzes his ideas and traces the philosophical,
anthropological, scientific, and literary movements that
influenced his thought.
"A thoughtful, learned and wide-ranging
book. . . . By the end, Pollard leaves us in no doubt that a
homosexual obsession was the integrating factor in the diversifies
body of Gide's work."--Anthony Curtis, Financial Times
"Pollard . . . traces [Gide's] development.
. . . He provides the reader with an impressive survey of all the
books about homosexuality, classical and modern, scientific and
imaginative, that AndrČ Gide might have consulted. Finally, he
shows us the effect of this reading not just on Corydon but also
on Gide's memoir If it Die, his novel The
Counterfeiters, and his plays and journals."--Edmund
White, Belles Lettres
"The first serious study of homosexuality
in Gide's theater and fiction; it analyzes his ideas and traces
the philosophical, anthropological, scientific, and literary
movements that influenced his thought."--Lambda Book
Report
"Contributes to our knowledge about the
historical treatment of the subject of homosexuality, this time as
seen by one of the foremost European minds of the early twentieth
century."--Jim Clay, Lambda Book Report
"A comprehensive study of Gide's writings
as they directly or indirectly address the theme of homosexuality.
. . . . It also serves as a fascinating overview of late
nineteenth- and early twentieth-century theories of sexuality of a
literary, scientific, and social nature; as such, it far exceeds
the scope of most Gide criticism."--M. Martin Guiney, Rocky
Mountain Review
Gide's
Bent : Sexuality Politics Writing (Ideologies of Desire) 
