Queer People

New York: Vanguard Press, 1930. First Edition, First Printing. Signed by the authors: "Carroll and Garrett Graham, June 19, 1930". On the front pastedown is the engraved theatrical scene bookplate of Fritz Tidden, who was the Hollywood publicist for great silent film director Erich von Stroheim, and is known to have been one of only 12 people at a special screening who was shown the complete Greed, Von Stroheim’s 1924 massive uncut 42 reel film masterpiece before it was dramatically cut by the studio to only 10 reels. A few small stains to cloth otherwise very good in a very good dust jacket with a few small chips and tears with the words office file copy stamped in a blank space on the rear panel. The front cover colorful artwork depicts a scantily clad beautiful actress posed in recline on a film set with a director and film crew photographing her. Queer People is considered one of the true landmarks in the continuous evolution of the Hollywood novel. The novel’s take of the bizarre and seamy side of the life of Hollywood during its golden age is like no other work of fiction. In the 1976 reprint edition, Budd Schulberg wrote “...in Queer People we have if not THE Hollywood novel - at least a truly seminal work on Hollywood in which may be found the seeds of at least three of the longer-lived Hollywood novels, The Day of the Locust, What Makes Sammy Run? and The Last Tycoon.” The book was a scandalous sensation when published and went through numerous printings very quickly. At publication, multi-millionaire film producer Howard Hughes bought the film rights to the novel. He hired Leo McCarey to direct and Ben Hecht to write the screenplay. Hughes biggest problem turned out to be that stars were extremely reluctant to appear in a film that attacked the Hollywood studio system. Hughes initially wanted to cast Jack Oakie and William Haines, but Paramount and MGM refused to loan them out. Unable to secure a significant cast, Hughes ended the production after spending over $100,000 of 1930s dollars in its preparation.