Odd Girl Out (novel)

Odd Girl Out

First edition cover
Author	Ann Bannon
Cover artist	Barrye Phillips
Language	English
Series	The Beebo Brinker Chronicles
Genre	Lesbian pulp fiction
Publisher	Gold Medal Books
Publication date	1957
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Paperback)
ISBN	1-57344-128-7 (2001 edition)
OCLC	1418753 (2001 edition)
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 22
LC Class	PS3552.A495 O33 2001
Followed by	I Am a Woman

Odd Girl Out is a lesbian pulp fiction novel written in 1957 by Ann Bannon (pseudonym of Ann Weldy), the first in a series of pulp fiction novels that eventually came to be known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. It was originally published in 1957 by Gold Medal Books, again in 1983 by Naiad Press, and again in 2001 by Cleis Press. Each edition was adorned with a different cover. Not until 1983 did author Bannon learn that her first novel was the second best-selling paperback of 1957.

Bannon's original story submitted to Gold Medal Books was about events in a sorority, in which a subplot involved an affair two women were having. Her editor handed it back to her and told her to focus on the two women. When she returned to the editor, the book was published without changing a word of her second version, and it became Odd Girl Out. As Bannon explained in the 2001 edition foreword, Gold Medal publishers had control over the cover art and the title. Lesbian pulp fiction books usually showed suggestive art with obscure titles that hinted at what the subject matter was inside.

Bannon was inspired to write her books after reading Spring Fire by Vin Packer and The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall. In fact, it was Marijane Meaker (Vin Packer's real name) that Bannon wrote to and who introduced her to her publisher at Gold Medal Books.^[1] Bannon was 22 years old when she began writing Odd Girl Out.