Which Way Do You Go? [Gay Travel Guide]

Which Way Do You Go? [Gay Travel Guide]

Malcolm Warren

Rio-SFO Press

1974

Inscribed to Roy. In addition to the 1975 Update, also came with a "moving" photo of the author and a business card

This early gay travel guide is a unique example of a single individual creating and maintaining a guide brand. Although not the first international guide, Which Way Do You Go? has many of the hallmarks of the era for an independently published guide. In addition to being privately published, the author utilized a pseudonym to hide his identity, and it is filled with bawdy illustrations. However, unlike other guides, the author claims to have traveled to each of the places listed in the guide, including in countries that were overtly homophobic and difficult to access including the Soviet Union, Iran, Nepal, Kenya, and Afghanistan. According to the Library of Congress copyright register, Malcolm Warren is the pseudonym of Richard Warren Brown. Brown was a high-end international tour guide, which allowed him to travel the world nearly constantly, allowing him to develop an “on the ground” understanding of what gay life was like in different countries. For example, the 1975 Update implies that Warren had visited nineteen countries in the past year across every continent other than Antarctica. Although based in San Francisco, Brown had a particular fascination with Rio de Janeiro. This helps to explain not only the name of the vanity press but also why the Brazilian section is so large when compared to other countries.

Jack Swab