Myra Breckinridge (1968) is a satirical novel by Gore Vidal written in the form of a diary. Its major themes are feminism, transsexuality and deviant sexual practices. Set in Hollywood in the 1960s, the novel also contains candid and irreverent glimpses into the machinations within the film industry. Considered pornographic at the time of its first publication, the book immediately became a worldwide bestseller. In 1974 Vidal published a sequel, Myron, in which the story of Myra Breckinridge is continued. See also: 1967 in literature, other events of 1968, 1969 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... Gore Vidal, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1948 Gore Vidal (born October 3, 1925) is a well-known American man of letters, a writer of novels, plays and essays, and a leading public figure for over fifty years. ... A diary is a book for writing discrete entries arranged by date. ... Feminism is a diverse collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies. ... A transsexual (sometimes transexual) person establishes a permanent identity with the opposite gender to their assigned (usually at birth) sex. ... Paraphilia (in Greek para παρά = besides and -philia φιλία = love) is a mental health term recently used to indicate sexual arousal in response to sexual objects or situations which may interfere with the capacity for reciprocal affectionate sexual activity. ... Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that extends from Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to south boundary east of La Brea Avenue... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1960s. ... Pavonazzeto marble sculpture, see Erotic art in Pompeii Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφια pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of harlots) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica. ... See also: 1973 in literature, other events of 1974, 1975 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Alternate use, hydrogen fuel car: General Motors Sequel A sequel is a work of fiction (e. ... Myron was a Greek sculptor of the middle 5th century BC. He was born at Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. ...

Welch as Myra

Myra Breckinridge was filmed in 1970 by Michael Sarne, with Raquel Welch in the title role. The movie also starred John Huston, Mae West, Farrah Fawcett, Roger Herren, and Roger C. Carmel. In 1993, looking back upon his career, Vidal wrote that although he had "never seen it, I do know that despite the iconic presences of Raquel Welch and Mae West, the film was so bad that the book stopped selling for a decade." File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Events February 11 - The film The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr premieres in New York City. ... Mike Sarne was a British pop singer in the 1960s, best known for his hit Come Outside, who became a film director. ... Raquel Welch (born September 5, 1940) is an American actress. ... Statue of John Huston, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico John Huston (August 5, 1906 - August 28, 1987) was an American film director. ... MAE-West is a major Internet peering point located in San Jose, California. ... Fawcett as Mary-Ann in Myra Breckinridge (1970) Farrah Leni Fawcett (born 2 February 1947) is an actress who became a noted pop culture icon of the 1970s. ... Roger C. Carmel (September 27, 1932-November 11, 1986) was an American character actor. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Myra Breckinridge is an attractive young woman with a mission. A film buff with a special interest in the Golden Age of Hollywood, in particular the 1940s, she comes to her uncle Buck Loner's academy for aspiring young actors and actresses in order to teach -- not just her regular classes (Posture and Empathy), but also, as part of the hidden curriculum, femdom ("I'm Myra Breckinridge whom no man will ever possess"). She selects as her first victim one of the "studs" at the Academy, a straight young man called Rusty Godowski, whose beautiful girlfriend Mary-Ann Pringle (Farrah Fawcett in the movie version) she at the same time sets out to alienate from him. Events and trends The 1940s were dominated by World War II, the most destructive armed conflict in history. ... The phrase hidden curriculum draws attention to the idea that schools do more than simply transmit knowledge, as laid down in the official curricula. ... Femdom, or female dominance, refers to BDSM activities where the dominant partner is female. ...

In the climactic scene of the novel (Ch.28), Myra has had Rusty come to the infirmary ("a small antiseptic white room with glass cabinets containing all sorts of drugs and wicked-looking instruments") at 10 p.m. under the pretext of having to conduct a medical examination. After tying Rusty face down to the examination table, she at first humiliates him verbally by asking him very personal questions about his sex life and commenting, in rather drastic tones, on the allegedly moderate size of his penis ("I'm afraid, Rusty, that you've been somewhat oversold on the campus. Poor Mary-Ann. That's a boy's equipment."). Finally, she rapes the unsuspecting student anally with a strap-on dildo ("Now remember the secret is to relax entirely. Otherwise you could be seriously hurt."). Afterwards ("There was blood at the end."), she even makes him thank her for the trouble she has taken. The penis (plural penises or penes) or phallus is the external male copulatory organ, and, in mammals, the external male organ of urination. ... Roman men having anal sex. ... A sex toy is a term for any object or device that is primarily used in facilitating human sexual pleasure. ...

Only towards the end of the novel does the reader learn about Myra's secret: Pretending that she is Myron Breckinridge's widow, she demands from her uncle, who owns the Academy, half of what he has built up, while in fact she was Myron, has had sexual reassignment surgery (she is particularly proud of her silicone breasts) and only poses as his widow. However, when she has a car accident and is hospitalized, Myra Breckinridge appears to be all just a dream. At the beginning of Myron, he lives together with Mary-Ann, whom he tried to seduce already as a woman. Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) includes the surgical procedures by which a persons physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are changed to that of the other sex. ... Silicones, or polysiloxanes, are inorganic polymers consisting of a silicon-oxygen backbone (...-Si-O-Si-O-Si-O-...) with side groups attached to the silicon atoms. ...

Letitia Van Allen on the lookout for new talent

The subplot of Myra Breckinridge revolves around the character of Letitia Van Allen (Mae West in the movie), an ageing but always horny talent scout whose office boasts a four-poster bed and whose kinky sexual practices ("Those small attentions a girl like me cherishes … a lighted cigarette stubbed out on my derriere, a complete beating with his great thick heavy leather belt, […]") have landed her in hospital, half paralysed ("Total perfection!"), at the same time as Myra. This work is copyrighted. ... A subplot is a series of connected actions within a work of narrative that function separately from the main plot. ...

The spirit of the times is also well reflected in another, earlier chapter (Ch.14) of Myra Breckinridge where Myra attends an orgy arranged by one of the students. She goes there, intending to be an observer only but, after "mixing gin and marijuana", she eventually gets "stoned out of her head" and passes out in the bathroom. Orgy has several meanings, including a drunken revelry, a religious rite involving ecstatic dancing, an unrestrained indulgence (for example, an orgy of destruction), or group sexual activity. ... Gin is a spirit, or strong alcoholic beverage. ... Cannabis is a plant also known as Cannabis sativa, hemp, or marijuana. ...

Read on

Explicit depiction of sexuality in mainstream fiction: Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought. ...

• Philip Roth: Portnoy's Complaint (1969)
• Terry Southern: Blue Movie (1970)
• Bret Easton Ellis: American Psycho (1991)
• Stewart Home: Cunt (1999)
• Adam Thirlwell: Politics (2003)

Novels about Hollywood: Philip Milton Roth (born March 19, 1933) is an American novelist who is best known for his sexually explicit comedic novel Portnoys Complaint (1969) and for his late-90s trilogy comprising the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Pastoral (1997), I Married a Communist (1998), and The Human Stain (2000). ... Portnoys Complaint book cover Portnoys Complaint (1969) is American writer Philip Roths fourth and, to date, still most popular novel, with many of its characteristics (ribald, comedic prose; themes of sexual desire and sexual frustration; a self-conscious literariness) having gone on to become Roth trademarks. ... See also: 1968 in literature, other events of 1969, 1970 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Terry Southern (May 1, 1924 - October 29, 1995) was a highly influential American short story writer, novelist, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer. ... See also: 1969 in literature, other events of 1970, 1971 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author. ... American Psycho (1991) is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis about a young Manhattanite serial killer. ... See also: 1990 in literature, other events of 1991, 1992 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Stewart Home (born 1962) is a British fiction writer, subcultural pamphletist, underground art historian and activist. ... Spoiler warning: Cunt (1999) is a novel by Stewart Home written in the form of a journal kept by a novelist from Aldeburgh called David Kelso (who also has a false passport in the name of Kevin Callan). ... See also: 1998 in literature, other events of 1999, 2000 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Adam Thirlwell (born 1978) is a British novelist and fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. ... One of the covers of Politics Politics is a 2003 novel by Adam Thirlwell about a father-daughter relationship and about a ménage à trois which includes said daughter and two of her friends. ... See also: 2002 in literature, other events of 2003, 2004 in literature, list of years in literature. ... This is a list of Hollywood novels i. ...

• P. G. Wodehouse: Laughing Gas (1936)
• James M. Cain: Serenade (1937)
• Budd Schulberg: What Makes Sammy Run? (1941)

Novels about strong women / women warriors: Called English literatures performing flea, P. G. Wodehouse, pictured in 1904, became famous for his complex plots, ingenious wordplay, and prolific output. ... Nitrous oxide, also known as dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide, is a chemical compound with chemical formula N2O. Under room conditions it is a colourless non-flammable gas, with a pleasant slightly sweet odor. ... See also: 1935 in literature, other events of 1936, 1937 in literature, list of years in literature. ... James Mallahan Cain (July 1, 1892 - October 27, 1977) was an American journalist and crime writer. ... In music, a Serenade (or sometimes Serenata) is, in its most general sense, a musical composition, and/or performance, in someones honor. ... See also: 1936 in literature, other events of 1937, 1938 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Budd Schulberg (born March 27, 1914) is a screenwriter and novelist. ... Budd Schulbergs (b. ... See also: 1940 in literature, other events of 1941, 1942 in literature, list of years in literature. ...

• Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland (1915)
• James M. Cain: Mildred Pierce (1941)
• Marge Piercy: Woman on the Edge of Time (1978)

(Please add to these lists.) Charlotte Perkins Gilman (July 3, 1860 - August 17, 1935) was a prominent feminist writer. ... See also: 1914 in literature, other events of 1915, 1916 in literature, list of years in literature. ... James Mallahan Cain (July 1, 1892 - October 27, 1977) was an American journalist and crime writer. ... Mildred Pierce is a novel (1941) by James M. Cain; and a feature film (Michael Curtiz; US, 1945) starring Joan Crawford which is based upon this novel. ... See also: 1940 in literature, other events of 1941, 1942 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Marge Piercy (born March 31, 1936) is an American poet, novelist, and social activist. ... See also: 1977 in literature, other events of 1978, 1979 in literature, list of years in literature. ...

External links

• The IMDb entry on Myra Breckinridge
• Myra Breckinridge. The Web Site
• A film review