A fascinating study about aesthetics and popular culture, this book argues that in an age of vanity and superficiality like the current one, beauty transforms certain individuals into privileged beings for whom the most difficult doors open with the greatest of ease. But that beauty is ephemeral and the privileged often live out the end of their careers in oblivion or in the mud, completely ignored by the same world that applauded them when they were beautiful. The involuntary martyrs of beauty discussed in this essay, complemented by black-and-white photographs, include Christopher Atkins, Helmut Berger, James Dean, Leif Garrett, Rob Lowe, and Ryan Phillippe. "Un fascinante estudio acerca de la estetica y la cultura popular, este libro arguye que en una epoca vanidosa y superficial como la de hoy, la belleza convierte a ciertos individuos en seres privilegiados para quienes se abren con absoluta facilidad las puertas mas dificiles. Pero esa belleza es efimera y esos privilegiados muchas veces terminan sus carreras en el olvido o el lodo, completamente ignorados por el mismo mundo que los aplaudio cuando eran hermosos. Los involuntarios martires de la belleza discutidos en este ensayo, complementado por fotografias en blanco y negro, incluyen a Christopher Atkins, Helmut Berger, James Dean, Leif Garrett, Rob Lowe y Ryan Phillippe."

Written during the last eight months of his life, these diaries are an unfiltered narration of the life of Joe Orton, the extremely successful and famous British playwright. On August 9, 1967, Orton was murdered in London by Kenneth Halliwell, his lover of 16 years, who bludgeoned him with a hammer and then immediately committed suicide. Halliwell left a note that said that all would be explained if the police read Orton's diaries. In the diaries, Orton narrates his literary success, his sexual escapades--at his mother's funeral, with a dwarf in Brighton, and, extensively, in Tangiers--and the breakdown of his "marriage" to Halliwell, the relationship that transformed his life and ultimately ended it. "Escritos durante los ultimos ocho meses de su vida, estos diarios son una narracion sin restriccion alguna de la vida de Joe Orton, el sumamente exitoso y famoso dramaturgo ingles. El 9 de agosto de 1967, en Londres, Orton fue asesinado a martillazos por Kenneth Halliwell, su amante de 16 anos, quien se suicido inmediatamente despues. Halliwell dejo una nota que decia que todo quedaria explicado cuando la policia leyera los diarios de Orton. En los diarios, Orton narra su exito literario, sus aventuras sexuales--en el funeral de su madre, con un enano en Brighton y, profusamente, en Tanger--y la descomposicion de su "matrimonio" a Halliwell, la relacion que le cambio la vida y que termino por destruirla."

Penned in 1929, this autobiographical novel narrates the experiences of a young poet from Oxford vacationing in Germany. Addressing themes such as sexual morality, naturism, and fascism, the novel focuses on the protagonist's spontaneous reaction to the social and cultural atmosphere of the Weimar Republic, a paradise that would promptly disappear under Nazi rule. With increasing tension, lazy afternoons filled with hiking and swimming and nights spent drinking and dancing at nightclubs slowly give way to the growing Nazi threat being felt among the youth the protagonist befriends. "Escrita en 1929, esta novela autobiografica narra las vivencias de un joven poeta de Oxford durante unas vacaciones en Alemania. Tratando temas tales como la moralidad sexual, el naturismo y el facismo, la novela se enfoca sobre la reaccion espontanea del narrador ante el universo social y cultural de la Republica de Weimar, un paraiso que pronto desapareceria bajo el yugo del nazismo. Con una tension creciente, tardes perezosas de excursiones y natacion y noches llenas de copas y bailes lentamente le ceden el paso a la creciente amenaza nazi que comienza a dejarse sentir entre los jovenes con los cuales el protagonista se hace amigos."