The Lord Won't Mind (1st Edition)

by Gordon Merrick

Book Overview

Prior to the publication of this beloved novel, nearly every gay novel and play seemed to end in suicide--or at least deep despair. Merrick was one of the first writers to insist that a gay... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: B078X28WXN
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Bernard Geis Associates
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Ordered paperback and recieved hard cover

Was looking for a certain edition of the book and recieved wrong one!

Great Tawdry (Gay) Romance Novel

Who doesn't love a good sex filled emotionally exhausting romance novel every once in a while? This was the first gay novel I'd ever read. It kept me reading straight through (including a doctors visit) until I was finished. This does everything you could ask of a tawdry romance novel. It gives you innocent love, betrayal, happiness and sadness, and of course lots of great sex scenes. A must read for all gay guys of the world.

Timeless !

I just reread this timeless novel and am as engross as ever in the love between Charlie and Peter. Again I find myself loving Peter but not Charlie. Perhaps because I am sentimental at heart and hates it when one half of a loving relationship abandons and betrays the other just because suddenly he could not withstand the pressure. However the satisfying ending makes up for Charlie's betrayal. Once again I feel that Charlie's and Peter's story should have just ended with The Lord Won't Mind and not continue into a trilogy. Reason being The Lord Won't Mind is perfect and complete in itself and the second and third books just spoil the enthrallment of Charlie's and Peter's love for each other.

Gordon Merrick Then & Now

I remember seeing Gordon Merrick's novels in bookstores when I was in my teens. They were softbound with provocative covers of half-naked men. I was instantly drawn. I read The Lord Won't Mind for the first time in the summer of 1991 in my mid-twenties. A man I was "bunking" with for a few days on Nantucket had purchased it (hardcover, no jacket, no images) from the library downtown for $.50. I could hardly put the book down once I started it. The material produces an arousal rather quickly. The description of its leading players, however, namely Charlie, Peter and the ever-whimsical C.B., give the reader the clear impression that there is more to the story at hand than sexual proclivities of the young and well endowed. Charlie Mills is the hero of Gordon Merrick's trilogy of male love (One For The Gods, Forth Into Light), Peter the undeniable ingenue. C.B. plays a rather due role. At the onset of the story, she is the pillar of strength to these young men; in the latter, she becomes more the object of dissention. (But do find out for yourself.) Unfortunately, I never got beyond the first few chapters of the book that summer before my "bunking" arrangement had ended and I had no further access to the book. I hunted it down in Manhattan only to discover that the heiress of its original publisher had put the material deliberately out of print. Several years passed before I read The Lord Won't Mind in its entirety, now re-published by Alyson Books. It is highly recommended reading for anyone who believes in the heart of the young, the steadfastness of true love, or just wants to read a hot novel.

I've read it before, and will read it again.......

I was 15 when I first read this book, and I have to say living in a small college town of Fayetteville, Arkansas, this book brought to me what I needed in a time of confusion and longing to know about gay love. Although it is definitely a romance novel, it is written with taste and passion. That was in 1980. I read the book again in 1989 for the second time and loved it just as much as I had before. I even wrote Mr. Merrick a letter praising him for writing this wonderful novel. In return I received a letter from his lifetime companion "Charles" informing me of the unfotunate death of Mr. Merrick. It is now 1999 and I have to say it has been refreshing to me to pick the book up again and read it for the third time. Mr Merrick wrote with compasion & detail. For example his delivery of the summer at C.B.'s house is so real to me. I can actually hear the leaves rustle, and feel the warm wind blow across my face. That was true with all of his scenarios written about in the book. I have to say that reading this book again brings back some old feelings of my youth. I am now 35 years old and it has been 20 years since I read this book for the first time. I plan on reading it again and again in the distant future.I agree, it may not be fine literature, but I will always recomend it with glowing reviews for anyone who wants to escape into the magic & passion of an innocent time for gay men.

A classic reprinted

The Lord Wont Mind is a classic gay novel that was all the rage in the seventies. I remember reading this book as I was just starting to come out in 1979. The book was dog-eared from being passed along from hand to hand. It was a must read amongst a sub-class in my high school. We knew we were different and we knew that we were gay. Eagerly, we read this book, searching for a blueprint, a design for living. In it, we found erotic potential and experienced the bittersweetness of love with a man.The story seems antiquated now, with the advent of AIDS, yet it still rings true. It centers on how hard it is to be true to who you are and how to accept that. It shows how love is so sweet when found, so sad when lost and triumphant when regained.The book centers on Charlie and Peter who fall madly in love with each other over a magical summer. Their relationship becomes fraught with difficulty when Charlie wants so to fit in and remain closeted. Peter, who is so achingly in love, wants to revel in this love, no matter what anyone thinks. I don't want to give away too much here. So, I'll let you find out what happens next.The story does get bogged down with Meriick's preoccupation with size (he was an old size queen, after all.) And there is a story twist in the end which seems somewhat convoluted and leaves one questioning why it was ever included. That aside, this is the perfect summer book filled with erotic passages featuring the most graphic gay love scenes ever written, tear jerking love scenes and a cast of unforgettable characters.This was the paramount of gay fiction. Nothing that has ever been written comes as close as this.