Rubyfruit Jungle | Literary Criticism & Book Review

Rubyfruit Jungle Critical Overview

Rubyfruit Jungle was initially rejected by several major publishers because its subject matter was considered too controversial for mass market public appeal. First published by a small, independent feminist press, Daughters, Inc., it sold a surprising seventy thousand copies.

During its initial publication run, Rubyfruit Jungle was widely ignored by the major newspapers and magazines. One of the few reviews it received was in Ms., where Marylin Webb called the book "an inspiring, bravado adventure story of a female Huck Finn named Molly Bolt." It was not until Bantam Publishing republished the novel in 1977 that more mainstream reviews began to appear.

New Boston Review's Shelly Temchin Henze traced the parallels between Rubyfruit Jungle and the work of Mark Twain: "Imagine, if you will, Tom Sawyer, only smarter; Huckleberry Finn, only foul-mouthed, female, and lesbian, and you have an idea of Molly Bolt" She asserted that Brown's novel...
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