The precocious and fearless protagonist of Rita Mae Brown’s 1973 novel “Rubyfruit Jungle” has served as a model of possibility for generations of young women, lesbians and outsiders of all kinds.
Both of its time and ahead of it, “Rubyfruit Jungle” has inspired countless lives, works of art and Sapphic-themed spaces.
Maybe just the first one toward whom I was evenly split between wanting and wanting to be — a category that only grew over time, and included heartthrobs of all genders.
I read “Rubyfruit” over and over, starting around 11 or 12, still a couple of years out from my first kiss with a girl.
I, too, wanted to hitch to New York where the other artists were, where the other queers lived.
Persons:
Molly Bolt, Holden Caulfield, Rita Mae Brown’s, ”, Melissa Febos, Molly, Huck, Holden, Pip
Organizations:
Bantam
Locations:
New York