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• The terminal bar : a novel
  Self-published by Larry Mitchell (1939-2012) of Calamus Books, one third of the Gay Presses of New York collective, this novel is set in a real Times Square bar which was popularly known as the “roughest” in New York but which was a sanctuary for its clientele. Based on Mitchell’s experiences and those of his friends, the novel follows a group of lesbians and gay men against a backdrop of a decaying America, symbolised by the Three Mile Island nuclear incident in 1979. The novel has also been considered the first work of fiction to reference AIDS. The copy of the book on display is inscribed to Gay’s the Word by the author “In defence of the freedom to read”.