Tops, Bottoms and Sidepockets — Poster Reprint (1965)
Published in 1965 under the bylines Robin Versage and Leland Garner, Tops, Bottoms and Sidepockets sits squarely in the final—and most revealing—chapter of gay pulp fiction. Appearing just before Stonewall, it emerged at a moment when queer life was still criminalized, censored, and forced into code, yet increasingly visible to those who knew where to look.
Gay pulp novels of the 1950s and 60s were sold cheaply and quietly—at bus terminals, drugstores, and through mail order—often disguised as “adult” or “psychological” fiction. While publishers leaned into lurid titles and covers to skirt censorship and attract buyers, readers understood the deeper value: these books named desires, roles, and social worlds that had little other representation in print. Even when constrained by stereotypes or moralizing endings, they created a shared underground language.
