The Asbestos Diary (book)

The Asbestos Diary (New York: Oliver Layton Press, 1966), is a groundbreaking, highly-acclaimed novel about BoyLove written by Casimir Dukahz, (pseudonym of Brian O. Drexel, b. July 07, 1909 d. June 28, 1988). In a humorous style full of wildly inventive wordplay, Dukahz evoked "in a fashion appropriately episodic both the bittersweet transience of boyhood and all the adolescent silliness and surprise encountered by a man constantly available for the entertainment of boys." [1] The Asbestos Diary created a sensation in its era and it has been argued that it was partly responsible for the rift between boylovers and radical feminists.

(For a free copy of The Asbestos Diary in PDF format, send your request to: willrobinson1965@fastmail.us)

In dedicating his book to 13-year-old Luc, Dukahz explains the meaning of the title:

To LUC

(Prime T-bone in a hamburger world)

"But why do you call it an asbestos diary?" asks Luc.

"Because in it I have written all about you and me, among others, and it hasn't gone up in smoke and flame."

"Are you some kind of creep from outer space or something?" the boy moans, clutching his hair. "If anybody reads it, you'll go to prison and I'll go to reform school!"

"I'll explain that it's farcical satire if not satirical farce," I reassure him, "a bathotic dramaturgical of petulant pubertal villains wooed by pricaresque hero . . . then everybody can read it!"

Background

The publisher of The Asbestos Diary asserted that it was a first in various ways. From the dust jacket of the First Edition:

• The first book by a writer who has been too busy living what he writes about - to write about it! Now he wants to share his personal bliss with a discerning few - the fewer the better, competition being what it is!

• The first book to introduce the humanely necessary element of sexual responsibility into erotica.

• The first fictional work to demonstrate conclusively that boy-love can and should be fun - not sordid, self-condemning or degrading.

• The first fictional work to prove that Dr. Albert Ellis, who wrote, “Boys are lousy lovers,” was about as wrong as an ignorant, biased and presumptuous heterosexual can be.

• The first erotica that has its share of the usual four-letter words, but is also guaranteed to improve your vocabulary.

• The first book-length fictional work to explore a subject which has suffered a ban of silence for nearly two thousand years.

• The first fictional work to defy the publishers’ and censors’ bigoted edicts that boy-love must be portrayed with an unhappy - or at least a neutral - ending.

• The first book to introduce humor as a consistent feature of erotica.

• The first fictional work on boy-love since the Satyricon which treats openly of the subject, by one who knows it and has lived it - not by reporters or others who at best have only textbook, hearsay or second-hand knowledge.

• The first book which may change the sexual habits of at least a million heterosexual males all over the world!

Notes on the Text

You will need access to a good dictionary to fully appreciate the book. As the publisher correctly noted on the dust jacket, it is "guaranteed to improve your vocabulary!!" The notes in this section are designed to further assist you: by explaining some allusions in the text, perhaps to then-current events or to other literature; and by providing other miscellaneous elaborations on the text.

The book consists of 135 short chapters, which typically describe some sort of sexual escapade involving Dukahz. The page numbers used in these notes correspond with the page numbering in the original text.

For a likely explanation of the meaning of the pseudonym Casimir Dukahz, see that BoyWiki article.

Preface

(includes: Dedication; and Table of Contents)

• bathotic is a variant of bathos, do not confuse with pathos.

• pricaresque is a pun on prick and picaresque.

• "A horse! a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" is a famous line from Shakespeare’s play Richard III.

• "O Tempora! o mores!" is a famous sentence by Cicero. It translates as Oh the times! Oh the customs! (Oh what times! Oh what customs!) This sentence is now used as an exclamation to criticize present-day attitudes and trends, often jokingly or ironically.

• Ecce Puer! is Latin for Behold the boy!

• Ave Atque Vale! is Latin for Hail and Farewell! or hello . .and goodbye!!

• "You know in your heart he’s right" was a campaign slogan for Barry Goldwater, the Republican candidate for the US Presidency in 1964. It was frequently parodied as, for example, "In your guts, you know he's nuts", or "In your heart, you know he might" (as in, push the nuclear button), or "You know in your heart, he's too far Right."

• a boy-Svengali and a recalcitrant Trilby refers to the novel Trilby (1894) by George du Maurier [2]

• The Feminine Mystaque is a pun on The Feminine Mystique (1963) a book written by Betty Friedan. According to The New York Times obituary of Friedan in 2006, it ignited the contemporary women's movement in 1963 and as a result permanently transformed the social fabric of the United States and countries around the world and is widely regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century.

• Geritol is an iron and vitamin tonic that was heavily marketed to old folks during the 1950s - 1970s.

• The Mann Act [3] is a US statute enacted in 1910 prohibiting "prostitution, immorality, and human trafficking," and still valid, with various amendments, today.

• Eros Apteros translates as wingless Eros, or love which is purportedly vulgar by the standards of mainstream society.

• Fanny Hill is an erotic novel by John Cleland first published in England in 1748, which had for the first time become widely available in the USA during the mid-1960s, because of less-restrictive official censorship of literature. [4]

Pages 1 - 27

• Mrs. Catterwall née Harridan uses a pun on the verb caterwaul, which means to cry or screech like a cat in heat. Look up harridan in your dictionary! (p.4)

• Soldaten-tante was (is?) German slang for a soldier-loving faggot. This alludes to a well-known scandal during the early 1900s, involving the richest man in Germany, arms manufacturer Friedrich Alfred Krupp, who was homosexual and had relationships with boys and men. [5] Also see [6] (p.7)

• . . . the reef between his Charybdis-Butt and Scylla-Tox. The end of a very funny sentence(!), once you understand the story of Scylla and Charybdis [7], and realize the wordplay Butt + Tox = buttocks! (p.9)

• D.A.R. is the Daughters of the American Revolution. W.C.T.U. is the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. S.O.B. - Female Division is, uh, self-explanatory. . . (p.12)

• Casimir reading Elsie Dinsmore!!?? [8] (p.15)

• Safeway A & Piggly-Wiggly is a mash of three big grocery-store chains of 1960s USA: Safeway; A & P; and Piggly-Wiggly. (p.17)

• McGeorge Bundy (US National Security Adviser), Robert S. McNamara (US Secretary of Defense), and Dean Rusk (US Secretary of State), were three of President Kennedy's "The Best and the Brightest" who continued to serve under President Lyndon Johnson. All were associated with the disastrous war in Vietnam. (p.17)

• Senatress McCarthy is an allusion to the famed anti-Communist witch-hunter, Senator Joe McCarthy. [9] (p.17)

• ex-cathedrally is wordplay on ex cathedra (p.17)

• Mary McCarthy's 1963 novel is titled The Group, not The Grope (!!) (p.21)

• Pabst, Schlitz, High Life, Rupperts, Schaefer and Rheingold were all popular brands of beer in the USA, while Pilsener is a style of beer. (p. 24 - 25)

Pages 28 - 55

• Semenary and semenars are puns on semen and: Seminary; and seminars. (p.28)

• Dr. Pimmel’s Academy for Select Young Gentlemen - Pimmel is a slang German word for penis (p.28)

• toral murpitude is wordplay on moral turpitude, which is a legal concept in the United States that refers to "conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals." (p.32)

• Wyndonbird, rich Wadybird, watusi Wyndabird and fruggy Wucibird is wild wordplay (!!) on the names of the USA President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, his wife known as “Lady Bird,” and his two youthful daughters Lynda Bird and Luci Baines. The Watusi and the Frug were two dances popular with teen-agers at the time. (p.39)

• B.Bardot is Brigitte Bardot, a French fashion model and actress who was especially well-known as a “sex kitten,” a very appealing and sensual woman. (p.39)

• A cache-sexe is an item, often a small garment, that covers its user's genitals. (p.39)

• ex-laxity is wordplay on laxity and Ex-Lax®, which is a well-known brand of laxative in the USA. (p.39)

• dullskuggery is wordplay on skullduggery. (p.39)

• Wamsutta is a brand of home décor items, especially bed sheets and pillowcases. (p.39)

• House Unamerican Activities refers to the House Un-American Activities Committee, an investigative organ of the USA Congress which was primarily known for its right-wing agenda.[10] (p.39)

• pedication, a word which is rarely used nowadays, means to have sex with a boy. (p.39)

• veneried is a variant of venery. (p.41)

• prossy is wordplay on prostitute. (p.41)

• sublimationitis is a Dukahz-discovered disorder (!!) which alludes to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of sublimation [11]. (p.41)

• I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND! alludes to the #1 hit song by The Beatles which had recently been released in the US when that chapter was dated (May 1964). (p.41)

• Boucher-wanton refers to the idyllic and voluptuous style of the painter François Boucher (1703-1770) [12] (p.43)

• . . .the roll that’s never called up yonder. The end of yet another very funny sentence (!!) when you understand that Dukahz is alluding to a Christian hymn, When the Roll is Called Up Yonder. (p.43)

• CAVE CANEM ET AL!, the chapter title, is Latin for BEWARE OF THE DOG AND OTHERS! (p.50)

• waltzing white mice are mice which have a genetic defect causing them to spin in circles chasing their own tails. See here [13] (p.54)

• Billie Sol Estes was a scandal-ridden Texas-based financier best known for his association with U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. See here [14] (p.54)

• the Massachusetts Senator from New York refers to President Kennedy’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy, who moved from Massachusetts to New York in 1964 (some say opportunistically) to successfully win a Senate seat representing New York in 1964, shortly after President Kennedy had been assassinated. President Kennedy’s other brother, Ted, was already a Senator representing Massachusetts. (p.54)

• Jimmy Roosevelt was a son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt who held a variety of public posts, including U.S. Congressman. As with Robert F. Kennedy, some said he opportunistically took advantage of his family connections. (p.54)

Pages 56 - 86

• ragazzo is an Italian word meaning boy or boyfriend. (p.56)

• garçon prostitué is a French term meaning boy prostitute. (p.56)

• caravanseried is yet another Dukahz-invented word (!), a variant of caravansary. (p.56)

• Thunderbird refers to the Ford Thunderbird, a stylish American-made car which was very popular, especially with boys and young men. [15] (p.62)

• WPA is the Works Progress Administration, a Depression-era jobs program launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which created and improved many public recreation areas. [16] (p.64)

• St. Sebastian has long been considered an unofficial "patron saint" of homosexuals, and there was an explicitly homosexual cult of Saint Sebastian in the nineteenth century. [17] (p.64)

• shunammite boy alludes to Shunamitism, [18] the practice of an old man sleeping with, but not necessarily having sex with, a young virgin in order to rejuvenate himself. (p.68)

• épatant is a French word meaning remarkable, marvelous. (p.70)

• Elephantis was a Greek poetess apparently renowned in the classical world as the author of a notorious sex manual. Her works have not survived. (p.77)

• délicieux bonbonnière is French for delicious candy; (p.78)

• compagnon-de-lit is companion in bed; (p.78)

• pissoir is urinal; (p.78)

• Tour d'Eiffel is Eiffel Tower; (p.78)

• cul is ass; (p.78)

• Mon Dieu! is My God!; (p.78)

• bijoux indiscrets are indiscreet jewels; (p.78)

• foutre is fuck; (p.78)

• Fous-moi le camp! is Leave me alone! or Get lost!; (p.78)

• Je m'en fous! is I don't care!; (p.79)

• vit is slang for penis; (p.79)

• extase is ecstasy, (p.79)

• sans-culottes refers to the working class radicals of the French Revolution. [19] (p.79)

• mont-de-piété is a very witty turn-of-phrase in this context, it literally means Mount of piety but it also refers to an institutional pawnbroker run as a charity in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 20th century (!!!) [20]. (p.79)

• the Prince Albert tobacco can was ubiquitous in American life for many years during the 20th century. It was the subject of two juvenile escapades, one well-known wherein the prankster would telephone a tobacco shop and inquire: "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" When the shopkeeper would invariably answer, "Yes," the prankster replied, "Well then you'd better let him out!" Dukahz's bit of doggerel here is less well-known, the incantation from the back of the can, 'Pa discovered in Ma the most delightful hole!' is derived from the message therein: Prince Albert Tobacco is prepared for smokers under the process discovered in making experiments to produce the most delightful and wholesome tobacco for cigarette and pipe smokers. (p.80)

• Who is Sylvia? by William Shakespeare is a poem from his play "The Two Gentlemen of Verona". Proteus sings this song, hoping to woo Silvia. The full poem is here [21]. (p.81)

• Phidias was considered the greatest of Greek sculptors and he became the dominant artistic figure of the fifth century BC. (p.84)

• Simmons and Englander are companies which manufacture beds and mattresses. (p.84)

• cacoëthes pueri is Latin for an irresistible urge for boys (!!) (p.85)

• aphrodizzyacs is wordplay on dizzy and aphrodisiacs. (p.86)

• HST , RFK , and LBJ are facetious references to President Harry S Truman, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and President Lyndon Baines Johnson. (p.86)

Pages 87 - 116

• Caliban is a beast-man, the ugly, inhuman spirit of evil in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. (p.87)

• Messalina was the notorious wife of Emperor Claudius, and one of the most cruelly ambitious women of Ancient Rome. Her name has become synonymous with the vices of womankind. (p.87)

• Argos was a city-state of Ancient Greece. Argos was actively involved in the arts. Their magnificent stone sculptures of athletes, rippling with stone muscles, were the envy of many a Greek city-state. Argos was also famous for their fine musicians and poets, and Drama reached new heights in their polis (city-state). [22] (p.89)

• nightsoil is a euphemism for human excrement collected at night from cesspools, privies, etc. and sometimes used as a fertilizer. (p.95)

• puppenjungen is a German word meaning literally doll boys, and is a slang expression for hustlers or boy prostitutes. John Henry Mackay wrote a pederastic novel of the Berlin boy-bars, Der Puppenjunge (The Hustler) (1926). [23] (p.98)

• FIAT LUX, the chapter title, is Latin for Let there be light! (p.99)

• flip-lips is somewhat akin to bullshit artists. (p.100)

• gamboge is a brownish or orange resin obtained from several trees of the genus Garcinia of south-central Asia and yielding a golden-yellow pigment. (p.101)

• frowsty fraus means stale or musty-smelling women (!!): frowsty is a chiefly British expression; and fraus is German. (p.102)

• Paestum is the classical Roman name of a major Greco-Roman city in the Campania region of Italy. It is also where Jason and his Argonauts finally captured the Harpies! (p.103)

• chroniques scandaleuses is French for slander / gossip / backbiting. (p.103)

• . . . King of Cockaigne is a very clever double-entendre. Cockaigne is a mythical land of ease and plenty, a land overflowing with milk and honey. [24] (p.103)

• "What Every Young Boy Should Know" was a common "sex education manual" given to boys around the age of 13. This book pretended to impart, in solemn and admonitory tones, all that an adolescent boy needed to know about sex. In fact, its only intelligible message was that masturbation results in impotence, madness, and often an early death. [25] (A very similar book, What a Young Boy Ought to Know, published in 1905, is in the public domain and is reproduced at this link. [26]) (p.106)

• peckerdillo is a pun on pecker and peccadillo. (p.107)

• Schwanz is Yiddish for penis. (p.108)

• triple-entente means 3-way agreement and is also the name given to the alliance between the United Kingdom, France, and Russia in 1907. [27] (p.108)

• linga or lingam is a stylized phallic symbol (erect penis) that is worshiped in Hinduism as a sign of generative power and that represents the god Shiva. (p. 108)

• accouplement is French for intercourse. (p.108)

• ephebaeum (from Greek, a young man), in architecture, a large hall in the ancient Palaestra furnished with seats, the length of which should be a third larger than the width. It served for the (naked) exercising of youths of from sixteen to eighteen years of age. (p.110)

• schmuckalina is a female schmuck (!!) (p.111)

• double-back-beasting means fucking. [28] (p.111)

• chacun à son goût is French for each to his own, (each person has his own tastes.) (p.113)

• gymnopaediae was an annual festival ‘of the naked youths’ at Sparta. It was held in July, lasted for several days, and included displays of gymnastics and dancing by boys and men; hymns were sung in honor of the gods and Spartan heroes. (p.115)

Pages 117 - 146

• Renfrew of the Mounted is a double-entendre alluding to Renfrew of the Royal Mounted, a popular series of boy's adventure books written by Laurie York Erskine that later were filmed and became a series on both radio and television. [29] (p.125)

• my new 1964 Hudson Super-Six refers to the Hudson Motor Car Company, which went out of business in the 1950s (!!) [30] (p.125)

• effete Albrightean decay refers to William Foxwell Albright, a conservative "Biblical archaeologist" who was in vogue until the 1960s, when the work of other scholars questioned and began to demolish the Albrightean view that archaeology had validated the books of Genesis and Exodus. [31] (p.130)

• chooch is a slang term meaning jackass, someone who is stupid and stubborn. It is derived from the Italian word ciuco, meaning donkey. (p.130)

• fuzz is a slang term for police and other law enforcement authorities. It was widely used in the 1960s. (p.131)

• Norbert , the name of the teen-boy hustler, also alludes to the Catholic Saint Norbert, who (had) had no hesitations about joining in any opportunity to enjoy himself, no matter what the source of that pleasure. . . (!!) [32] Norbert was a well-known and venerated saint in the German-American Midwestern community in which Dukahz (Brian O. Drexel) was raised, and there is a Saint Norbert College in Wisconsin. (p.131)

• Little Lord Roy le Faunt is wordplay on Little Lord Fauntleroy [33], and in this context Dukahz is likely alluding to the god Faunus: in Roman mythology; the god of nature, farming, and fertility. Greek equivalent: Pan. (p.136)

• scugnizz means "street kid" in Italian. [34] (p.138)

• Lucrezia Borgia was history's most notorious femme fatale, with three husbands, numerous lovers, and a rumored penchant for poisoning men of whom she grew tired. [35] (p.138)

• maquereau is French for pimp. (p.139)

External links

• Ad for The Asbestos Diary in the July 3, 1966 New York Times