Bantam is reissuing the iconic Rubyfruit Jungle (paperback, $16) to mark both Pride Month and the 42nd anniversary of the novel's publication. Rita Mae Brown writes about her landmark novel:
Silence is as instructive as running the mouth. When Rubyfruit Jungle was first published by Daughters, Inc., in 1973, the print run was 1,000 copies. Silence. No advertising, no reviews, not a glimmer of interest from the literary establishments. And then orders hit like an avalanche. The small company filled 70,000 orders in the first year. They estimated--from the volume of fan mail--that for every book sold, seven people had read it.
This is what happens when someone tells the truth.
At that time, women's writing was only of interest if it revolved around men. The author could rail, weep, howl about how dreadful her man was; the point being, she was still writing about a man.
During the early '70s, women journalists wrote about Vietnam, the gunning down of students at Jackson State and Kent State for underground newspapers. The traditional papers still carried "Women's Pages," and the editors were certain ladies did not want to read about Vietnam, much less literature about independent women.
Rubyfruit Jungle's main character fights back. She utters no pieties about how women are born nurturers to serve and civilize men. Nor is there any mention of children in the hope that she will eventually devote her life to the same. Worse, she rarely mentions romantic love.
In 1977, thanks to the urging of a young editor, Elly Sidel, Bantam bought Rubyfruit Jungle from Daughters, Inc., printing paperbacks like potato chips.
Let's face it, everyone is fascinated by a bad girl. For some, she provides a silent thrill. For others, she is proof positive of their righteousness. I found myself the object of lavish devotion as well as lavish hostility. I never paid much attention to any of it.
All of the above afforded me the opportunity to write more novels. I'm up to about 54 now. To work with the English language, to be a part of a chain of Western literature that started with Homer, no matter how small one's efforts, is unalloyed joy.