The Asbestos Diary (book)
The Asbestos Diary (New York: Oliver Layton Press, 1966), is a groundbreaking, highly-acclaimed novel about BoyLove written by Casimir Dukahz, (pseudonym of Brian O. Drexel, b. July 07, 1909 d. June 28, 1988). In a humorous style full of wildly inventive wordplay, Dukahz evoked "in a fashion appropriately episodic both the bittersweet transience of boyhood and all the adolescent silliness and surprise encountered by a man constantly available for the entertainment of boys." [1] The Asbestos Diary created a sensation in its era and it has been argued that it was partly responsible for the rift between boylovers and radical feminists.
In dedicating his book to 13-year-old Luc, Dukahz explains the meaning of the title:
To LUC
(Prime T-bone in a hamburger world)
- "But why do you call it an asbestos diary?" asks Luc.
- "Because in it I have written all about you and me, among others, and it hasn't gone up in smoke and flame."
- "Are you some kind of creep from outer space or something?" the boy moans, clutching his hair. "If anybody reads it, you'll go to prison and I'll go to reform school!"
- "I'll explain that it's farcical satire if not satirical farce," I reassure him, "a bathotic dramaturgical of petulant pubertal villains wooed by pricaresque hero . . . then everybody can read it!"
Background
The publisher of The Asbestos Diary asserted that it was a first in various ways. From the dust jacket of the First Edition:
- The first book by a writer who has been too busy living what he writes about - to write about it! Now he wants to share his personal bliss with a discerning few - the fewer the better, competition being what it is!
- The first book to introduce the humanely necessary element of sexual responsibility into erotica.
- The first fictional work to demonstrate conclusively that boy-love can and should be fun - not sordid, self-condemning or degrading.
- The first fictional work to prove that Dr. Albert Ellis, who wrote, “Boys are lousy lovers,” was about as wrong as an ignorant, biased and presumptuous heterosexual can be.
- The first erotica that has its share of the usual four-letter words, but is also guaranteed to improve your vocabulary.
- The first book-length fictional work to explore a subject which has suffered a ban of silence for nearly two thousand years.
- The first fictional work to defy the publishers’ and censors’ bigoted edicts that boy-love must be portrayed with an unhappy - or at least a neutral - ending.
- The first book to introduce humor as a consistent feature of erotica.
- The first fictional work on boy-love since the Satyricon which treats openly of the subject, by one who knows it and has lived it - not by reporters or others who at best have only textbook, hearsay or second-hand knowledge.
- The first book which may change the sexual habits of at least a million heterosexual males all over the world!
Notes on the Text
You will need access to a good dictionary to fully appreciate the book. As the publisher correctly noted on the dust jacket, it is "guaranteed to improve your vocabulary!!" The notes in this section are designed to further assist you: by explaining some allusions in the text, perhaps to then-current events or to other literature; and by providing other miscellaneous elaborations on the text.
The book consists of 135 short chapters, which typically describe some sort of sexual escapade involving Dukahz. The page numbers used in these notes correspond with the page numbering in the original text.
For a likely explanation of the meaning of the pseudonym Casimir Dukahz, see that BoyWiki article.
Preface
(includes: Dedication; and Table of Contents)
- bathotic is a variant of bathos, do not confuse with pathos
- pricaresque is a pun on prick and picaresque
- "A horse! a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" is a famous line from Shakespeare’s play Richard III
- "O Tempora! o mores!" is a famous sentence by Cicero. It translates as Oh the times! Oh the customs! (Oh what times! Oh what customs!) This sentence is now used as an exclamation to criticize present-day attitudes and trends, often jokingly or ironically.
- Ecce Puer! is Latin for Behold the boy!
- Ave Atque Vale! is Latin for Hail and Farewell! or hello . .and goodbye!!
- "You know in your heart he’s right" was a Barry Goldwater campaign slogan from the 1964 US Presidential Election. It was frequently parodied as, for example, "In your guts, you know he's nuts", or "In your heart, you know he might" (as in, push the nuclear button), or "You know in your heart, he's too far Right"
- "a boy-Svengali and a recalcitrant Trilby" refers to the novel Trilby (1894) by George du Maurier [2]
- "The Feminine Mystaque" is a pun on The Feminine Mystique (1963) a book written by Betty Friedan. According to The New York Times obituary of Friedan in 2006, it "ignited the contemporary women's movement in 1963 and as a result permanently transformed the social fabric of the United States and countries around the world” and “is widely regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century."
- Geritol is an iron and vitamin tonic that was heavily marketed to old folks during the 1950s - 1970s.
- The Mann Act [3] is a US statute enacted in 1910 prohibiting "prostitution, immorality, and human trafficking," and still valid, with various amendments, today.
