MALE FANTASY. In Aaron's Rod, a satirical, ultra-masculine narrative with unconsciously homosexual undertones by controversial literary legend D.H. Lawrence, protagonist Aaron Sisson has grown tired of his dulling marriage and monotonous daily life working a desk job for a coal mine business in the Midlands of England. He abandons his wife and children to chase dreams of fame and fortune as a professional flutist, and embarks on an impulsive trip to Italy. There, he networks in various inner circles of artists, intellects and socialites, soon meeting the mesmerizing writer Rawdon Lilly, who acts as Aaron's pseudo-spiritual guru in this thrilling new world free of domestic duties, and sparks a "bromance" that just may shift Aaron's impression of himself, life and art forever... With a sharp introduction by David McConnell, author of the forthcoming The Beads (ITNA, 2023) and winner of the 2014 Stonewall Book Award for his non-fiction work American Honor Killings: Desire and Rage Among Men (Akashic, 2013), this new edition of Aaron's Rod, as part of the ITNA ICONS collection, is a fascinating portrayal of a burnt-out working-class man of early twentieth century England, replete with the polarizing, often frankly misogynistic themes that made the book the target of controversy.
