Manfred Herzer

Set among the glittering clubs and grimy side streets of 1920s Berlin (with detours to Italy and Paris), these charming, witty, and erotic tales capture the trials and triumphs of early twentieth-century gay life without apology or shame. Granand, the pen name for theater director and author Erich Ritter von Busse, lost his battle against bigoted censors but won a shining place in literary history with this pathbreaking volume. Instead of hewing to the villain/victim dichotomy that haunts the representation of LGBTQIA+ life to this day, these stories reveal the complexities of the human heart with verve and compassion.