One...
it is homophobic and denigrates homosexuality in many ways including
references to homosexuals as “deviants”. And two... because
Steiger and Mank allege it is sourced to some mythical accounts and
documents which they never locate or reveal. This is not sloppy
research, but no research. I kept a couple of sources anonymous in
Affairs Valentino but I included over 40 pages of end notes as
directions for readers to find my sources for themselves if they so
desired.
The
Mank and Steiger book is presented in an obscene and sexually graphic
jumble of typos and factual missteps. Steiger and Mank portray
Valentino as a sexually confused mess of a man who vomits in disgust
while trying to have sex with a woman, a man who spends most of his
time in gay bath houses and who was sexually molested by a nanny as a
little boy. That last aspect was so disturbingly presented, I wonder
how it ever came to be in print.
This
book denigrates Valentino further by exploiting some correspondence
he had with Chaw Mank's fan magazine, which was polite and
professional. Steiger and Mank include these formal greetings from
Valentino in order to bolster their x-rated narrative. The book, by
the way, was made into the equally as awful Ken Russell movie,
Valentino. Enough said.
I
critiqued the book in my speech in Turin and in Affairs Valentino.
David Bret has been furious at me for that ever since... this because
he claims he knew Chaw Mank and that he based his Valentino book on
Mank and Steiger's book. I pointed out in my speech that Bret
plagiarized the book. I also question that Bret knew Mank and point out that Mank died many years before Bret wrote on Valentino.
Because
Steiger's stereotyping of homosexuals so dominates and because Bret
likes to feign being an advocate for the gay community, I found this
all quite odd.
You
may watch my speech and my critique of both books @
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9PrbMz0qwmnEWSGZb_jNZQ
Today
I present the transcript of my exchange with Brad Steiger and say
that I found it shocking in its sweeping innuendo with his claiming
rumor as fact, and perpetuating antiquated homosexual stereotypes...
such as his emphatic statements that one's sexual orientation is
contagious and determined by your friends and business associates. I
also wrote more analysis of his book in my article, Words of
Clarification which can be read @ https://bit.ly/2JOxk8s
Here follows my print out of the email exchange verbatim which is of course preserved on the servers. I add my footnotes today about his responses as I had a bit more to add.
