Rubyfruit Jungle is the sort of book that makes people wish they were lesbians. It is a classic lesbian novel, which captures both tribulation and triumph in an unforgettable way by telling the story of how its spirited main character, Molly Bolt, comes of age. It was the first bestseller telling the story of a lesbian character and it achieved its remarkable fame and popularity through word of mouth, and implanting its title, which is the author's description of female genitalia, throughout gay culture as a symbol of lesbian love.

Rubyfruit Jungle was Rita Mae Brown's breakthrough novel, first published in 1973. It chronicles the life of its courageous heroine from the age of six until her young adulthood. During this period, she loses her virginity in sixth grade to a female friend, attends high school and has an affair with the head cheerleader, and moves to New York, where she leads an exuberant life, carrying on affairs with a mother and her daughter simultaneously and throwing oranges at a naked man for money, finally attending film school and graduating with honors.

The book is both hilarious and sad - the reader sees Molly be rejected by friends, kicked out of college, and berated by her mother for her lesbianism. But Molly is unapologetic, and she manages to succeed, refusing to accept an average existence. Her story is especially moving to young gay people, but the character, in her stubbornness and will to accomplish her goals, should inspire anyone. It is the amazing story of a girl who, despite her provincial upbringing, never doubts her worth and never allows others to dishearten her, despite the pain she experiences along the way.

This book is a classic, and its main character draws inevitable comparisons to Huckleberry Finn. Her strength as a lesbian, a woman, and a person is magnificent. While the book inevitably draws criticism for the sexual freedom exhibited by its characters, in truth Molly Bolt is not amoral but simply unconstrained, living her youth in a youthful manner. Modern gay and lesbian literature owe a great deal to this book, and it is an exhilarating read for anyone.