Reading the Obscene: Transgressive Editors and the Class Politics of US Literature

279 Pages·2021·1.967 MB·English

by  Jordan Carroll

Reading the Obscene
Loren Glass, and Kate Marshall, Editors
Post•45 Group, Editorial Committee
Reading the Obscene
Transgressive Editors and the Class Politics
of US Literature
Jordan S. Carroll
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2021 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
“Reading Playboy for the Science Fiction” was originally published in American Literature, Vol. 87:2,
pps. 331–3 58. ©2015, Duke University Press. Republished by permission. www.dukeupress.edu.
“White- Collar Masochism: Grove Press and the Death of the Managerial Subject” was originally
published in Twentieth- Century Literature, Vol. 64:1, pps 1– 23. ©2018, Hofstra University. Repub-
lished by permission of the copyright holder, and present publisher, Duke University Press. www.
dukeupress.edu.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free, archival- quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Carroll, Jordan S., author.
Title: Reading the obscene : transgressive editors and the class politics of US literature /
Jordan S. Carroll.
Other titles: Post 45.
Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2021. | Series: Post*45 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021007431 (print) | LCCN 2021007432 (ebook) | ISBN 9781503627482 (cloth) |
ISBN 9781503629486 (paperback) | ISBN 9781503629493 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Censorship— United States— History— 20th century. | Obscenity (Law) — United
States— History— 20th century. | Anticensorship activists— United States— History— 20th
century. | Editors— Political activity— United States— History— 20th century. | Erotic
literature— Publishing— United States— History— 20th century. | Pornography— Social
aspects— United States— History— 20th century. | Middle class men— Books and reading—
United States— History— 20th century.
Classification: LCC Z658.U5 C37 2021 (print) | LCC Z658.U5 (ebook) | DDC 363.31097309/04— dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021007431
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021007432
Cover design: Jenny Burger
Typeset by Kevin Barrett Kane in 10/15 Minion Pro
For my family
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: The Naked Editor 1
1 Shocking the Middle Class 11
2 An Aristocracy of Smut 40
3 Decrypting EC Comics 71
4 Reading Playboy for the Science Fiction 101
5 Mad Ones, Mad Men 128
6 White- Collar Masochism 154
Afterword: Transgression in the Post- pornographic Era 180
Notes 195
Index 255
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to express gratitude to my wife, Jenny, who gave
me all the time and support I needed to complete Reading the Obscene. Special
thanks go to her, as well, for designing the cover of this book. My son Bram
was born before I completed my manuscript, and I thank him for giving me
motivation to get through this project sooner rather than later. Thanks also go
to my parents, Jim Carroll and Eva Smith-C arroll, and my sister, Hallie Carroll,
for the encouragement they provided along the way.
I am fortunate to have worked with Loren Glass, Kate Marshall, Erica Wet-
ter, Faith Wilson Stein, and Jessica Ling at the Stanford University Press Post*45
series. As someone who writes about editors, I appreciate all of their hard work
on this project. This book was shaped by the perceptive feedback of the press’s
anonymous reviewers, who I thank as well.
Reading the Obscene began during my time at the University of California,
Davis, where it benefited from the English department’s commitment to interdis-
ciplinarity and experimentation. I was helped immensely by Colin N. Milburn,
who proved to be a careful reader and a kind friend throughout this entire
process. I really could not have done this without him. I appreciate the support
I received from Elizabeth Freeman, Kris Fallon, and Hsuan L. Hsu, as well, who
were exceptional mentors and great allies on the job market. Additional thanks
go to Ashutosh Bhagwat, Nathan Brown, Gregory Dobbins, Margaret Ferguson,
Mark Jerng, John Marx, Matthew Stratton, and many other amazing faculty
members who were at UC Davis. Throughout my career at UC Davis, I also re-
ceived generous assistance from my colleagues, including Ian Afflerbach, Russell
Backman, Molly Ball, Ashlee Bird, Mike Clearwater, Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal,
Rebecca Kling, Josef Nguyen, Magalí Rabasa, Bonnie Roy, Leilani Serafin, Marty
Weiss, and Melissa Wills.
ix