A review by manwithanagenda
Visit to Priapus and Other Stories by Glenway Wescott

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Unbelievable. I've had my eye on this for a long time, but I was a little skeptical of the (relative) hype surrounding the content. The title story was written in 1938 and suppressed by Wescott himself as unpublishable. It is written in a verbose, confessional style and Wescott, like so many others even today, had trouble finding adequate words to describe sex itself and even the well-endowed "Priapus" his alter-ego Alwyn Tower hooks up with. That story, however remarkable, is underwhelming, but the rest of the collection will not disappoint.

Wescott was a gifted writer and all of the stories and essays collected here touch on his experiences as a queer youth, his early career and his thoughts on the world. I've always thought it a shame that though he lived into the late '80s he was unable to produce any longform fiction after World War II. THis collection adds some welcome material to his catalog.