Rubyfruit Jungle

Rubyfruit Jungle is the first novel (1973) by Rita Mae Brown, remarkable for its explicit lesbianism. The novel is a bildungsroman/autobiography (some have suggested picaresque) account of Brown's youth and emergence as a lesbian author.

Related Topics:
1973 - Rita Mae Brown - Lesbianism - Bildungsroman - Autobiography - Picaresque

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This work is notable for being an early literary lesbian novel, as well as for Brown's own activism in lesbian and feminist causes. Many lesbian readers have found in it a reflection of their own experiences and observations. Some now dismiss it as "just another lesbian coming-of-age novel": they apparently do not realize that Rubyfruit Jungle was one of the first coming-of-age novels. Its success is part of why lesbian coming-of-age novels are now a cliche.

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