Maitland’s Vintage Gay Books Newsletter

Maitland’s Vintage Gay Books Newsletter

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Maitland’s Vintage Gay Books Newsletter
Maitland’s Vintage Gay Books Newsletter
Night of the Sadist

Night of the Sadist

Paul Laurie, Parisian Press, 1971

Maitland McDonagh
Nov 17, 2022
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Maitland’s Vintage Gay Books Newsletter
Maitland’s Vintage Gay Books Newsletter
Night of the Sadist
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Paul Laurie’s menacingly named Night of the Sadist (1971) is set in an unnamed locale that suggests San Francisco, though the street names point to Philadelphia — a city that, less famously than San Francisco, has a long LGBTQ history dating back to at least the early 20th century, when the Prohibition-era speakeasy Maxine’s was famous as a hangout catering to the hot-blooded triumvirate of local gay men, soldiers and sailors, the latter historically famous for their all-around readiness for a good, hot time on the old town. The novel, which involves the S&M subculture, opens with an editorial teaser that asks, "Is it a mystery with a sex twist or a sex story with a mystery twist?" The editorial's own blithe response, evoking a George and Ira Gershwin song, is: "'Who Cares?' It is an entertainingly erotic novel by a prolific and proficient writer."

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