Daniel Curzon (born March 19, 1938) is the pen name of Daniel R. Brown. He is the author of Something You Do in the Dark, first published by G. P. Putnam in 1971 and which may be considered as one of the first gay protest novels.[1] [2] It is the story of a gay man's attempt to avenge his entrapment by a Detroit vice squad police officer by murdering him.
Curzon has written other novels, including The Misadventures of Tim McPick (original title: Queer Comedy), From Violent Men, Among the Carnivores, The World Can Break Your Heart, Curzon in Love, The Bubble Reputation, or Shakespeare Lives!, and What a Tangled Web. His non-fiction books include The Big Book of In-Your-Face Gay Etiquette and Dropping Names: The Delicious Memoirs of Daniel Curzon. This last was described by Ian Young in Torso as "ferociously honest and very funny" and by Philip Clark in Lambda Book Report as "a blunt, hilarious, page-turning ride that is...impossible to put down."[3]
Curzon edited and published the early homophile magazine "Gay Literature: A New Journal" [4]in 1975 and 1976. The magazine included poetry, fiction, literary reviews, essays, photography, and short plays. Curzon's own written work sometimes was included. Curzon contributed articles for other magazines such as "Gay Times" in 1976 and "Alternate" in 1978.
In the theater, Curzon won the 1999 National New Play Contest for Godot Arrives, and has won many other play contests, such as the Great Platte River Play Contest. His play My Unknown Son was produced off-Broadway at the Circle Rep Lab in 1987 and at the Kaufmann Theatre in 1988, as well as in Los Angeles in 1997. Baker's Plays published Curzon's one-act play, A Fool's Audition. Seven volumes of his Collected Plays have been published as POD books through BookSurge.
Curzon, who is openly gay,[5] is currently a retired professor of English.].[6]
Something You Do In the Dark was recognized when it appeared as the first gay protest novel:
“Engrossing, powerful, and disturbing.” – Joyce Carol Oates (front cover blurb, 1971 Putnam edition)
“Something You Do in the Dark . . . is a real novel, not a political tract. It deals convincingly and powerfully with the persecution of a minority, but it tells the story of an individual, not a representative martyr. Its hero is torn between rebellion and cowardice, love and rage; he is never too good to be true. I greatly admire Daniel Curzon for writing this book.” – Christopher Isherwood, 1974
“Powerful and engrossing!” – Walter Allen, author of The English Novel
“I think Dark is truly ‘powerful and engrossing.’” – Michael Sarotte, author of Like a Lover, Like a Brother
“I read the book when I was young. It was a gift to all of us.” – David Mixner, Author/Activist
“Brutally frank and unflinchingly honest, Something You Do in the Dark is not meant to shock. Neither is a cry for sympathy. It is, instead, a scathing indictment of society and the terrible methods it uses to haunt and harass some of its members.” – from original press release from G. P. Putnam, 1971 hard back edition.
“At last, a true-to-life portrait of a gutsy gay male: fast-moving, up-to-date, healthy and courageous. We rooted for him from cover to cover, and we’ll remember him for a long time.” – Lige & Jack, Editors, Gay (newspaper), 1971 (back cover of original Putnam edition)
“. . . Curzon’s novel surpasses its predecessors in harsh, beautiful honesty, in liberated grasp of the subtle varieties of homosexual character, in anguished, unsentimental protest and it its spirit of nowness.” – Jim Kepner, The Advocate, 1971 (back cover blurb for original Putnam edition)
“Almost three decades after I first read it, Something You Do in the Dark is still a powerful and provocative reading experience.” – Jesse Monteagudo, The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered, 2010
“SOMETHING YOU DO IN THE DARK certainly deserves a wide readership and should be on every list of classic novels with gay characters-- whatever that means-- and should be considered with CITY OF NIGHT, GIOVANNI'S ROOM and THE CITY AND THE PILLAR.” – H.F. Corbin (Amazon Top 500 Reviewer), 2010
. . . This is an important novel especially for the younger gay generation so they can know that the rights that we have today were brought about at the pains of another generation. It is a political statement against the powers that were and we see just how vulnerable we were. The same kind of vice squad action is still here and it seems that it will always will be. Everything about his book is still relevant today but not as overt as it was the 1970’s. . . . Curzon uses his novel to show us how the gay population was once treated and we owe him a great deal for that. He has given us unforgettable characters who lived at a time when it was not wise for someone to proclaim his sexuality. Everyone should read this and then use what was read to help create a better and more accepting world. – Amos Lassen, Blog at Wordpress, Reviews by Amos Lassen