Freaks and The Sex Clinic

Doug Lang is from Swansea. He wrote fiction and poetry in the UK before eventually moving to the States. In 1973 cult publishers NEL published two trash fiction novels by him. Freaks is typical NEL fare in that it fictionally exploits a youth cult – in this case hippy drop-outs. Set in a communal house in London, the tag line reads: "A novel of today's drop-outs and their hang-ups". It wasn’t ever going to win any literary prizes but it is interesting from a Welsh perspective in that the narrator is a poet from Wales.

Doug Lang’s other novel, The Sex Clinic, was published under the pseudonym of JJ Lyly. It is extremely rare – I’ve never even seen a copy in the flesh. But I am curious about it, so if anyone has a copy I would love to borrow it. As for Lang himself he has more or less disowned both novels. He continues to write poetry and teach in the US.