Rita Mae Brown - Ruby-fruit jungle

Rubyfruit Jungle is the rare work of fiction that has changed real life. Because its heroine dares to be her unique and spirited self, despite societys biases about class and sexuality, she has helped generations of readers to do the same. If you dont yet know Molly Boltor Rita Mae Brown, who created herI urge you to read and thank them both.

G LORIA S TEINEM

In her high-spirited, unforgettable depiction of the gutsy, confident Molly Bolt, a lesbian fiercely and wondrously herself, Rita Mae Brown not only gave us our first lesbian heroine, she gave us gay pride before we had the words.

K ATHERINE V . F ORREST, author of High Desert

Rubyfruit Jungle was a trailblazing literary coup at publication. Born of Rita Mae Browns radical feminism, social consciousness and humor, it was the right book at the right time then, and continues to seduce lesbian readers well into the twenty-first century.

L EE L YNCH, author of Beggar of Love

Ive always thought Rubyfruit could be titled The Worst Little Girl in the World. Rita Mae was brave and tough and ever so naughtymy exact opposite. What are the chances wed have double-dated when I was fourteen and she, tennis coach at our sister camp, was seeing my counselor? (Thats how I knew he was straight.) (So not!) You cant fully knowor enjoyhow much the world has changed since then without reading this truly wonderful book.

A NDREW T OBIAS, author of The Best Little Boy in the World

In Rubyfruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown has given us all the gift of a brilliant, brave, and witty superstaran iconic character who burst upon the scene right when we needed her most. Molly Bolt will continue to amuse and inspire women for generations to come.

A NN B ANNON, author of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles

Where does the time go? If you find out, tell me. Ill go get some and bring it back.

I wrote Rubyfruit Jungle more than forty years ago. Loving the English language since I first learned to speak it, I found that I loved writing it even more. My love for our language has deepened with the years, but then who wouldnt be thrilled living in a cathedral of English?

If Rubyfruit helped you to know that you arent alone, good. If I made you laugh, even better.

This novel is pegged as a lesbian novel, therefore classified in the ghettos of literature. Anytime any work or any person is qualified, its always an insult. The message really is, This is not about people like yourself. You might enjoy it, but after all, the subject matter concerns the lower orders.

There are no lower orders. There are no lesbians or transgender people or fill in the blank. There are only people, a wild mix of energy, different abilities, colors ranging from ebony to bleached white. Were everything and everybody. I dont even believe in male and female, its a sliding scale and we are hag-ridden by a binary culture: male-female, black-white, straight-gay, rich-poor, and so it goes. The gradations are infinite and the silliest mistake of all is to define people by material possessions. Its even worse if people define themselves by money.

When I wrote Rubyfruit Jungle in 1971 (the year I wrote it, not the year it was published), the only way to begin to understand your situation was to take the label given to you by others, a label devised centuries, if not millennia, ago for some labels, and to understand how this became hardened oppression. That work is done.

Think about it. Once you buy into a definition of yourself that has been made by others, youre a victim. Victims draw great strength from banding together and declaring a common oppression and a common (always glorious, of course) culture. Perhaps, but youre still a victim.

In its own simple fashion, Rubyfruit alludes to this without ever collapsing into nonfiction propaganda. This is not to rap nonfiction. I worship The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. Then again, its not propaganda.

Until we are willing to read, see, embrace any work of art by any gifted person, we are still held back. Think of this in non-artistic terms. Moses took the Jews out of Egypt. Could he take Egypt out of the Jews? Only then can one be free. Let go of your oppressor. Many people cannot and many artists cannot. Whole careers are made by those who fall into disadvantaged categories (and economically and politically, they do). And its not just those who are wrathful about their condition, its those who become lawyers and self-appointed spokespersons for the rest. You might say that oppression sells.

The most revolutionary thing you can do is be yourself, to speak your truth, to open your arms to life, including the pain. Find your passions.

The English language, horses and hounds, and the theater are mine. I wish for you something that enlarges your life, teaches you to respect all life forms, and helps you connect to other people.

If Rubyfruit Jungle helped to push you on your path to freedom, Ive done something right.

Onward and upward,

R ITA M AE B ROWN

February 6, 2015