Caustic Cover Critic: Interlude: A Random Selection of Pulp and Trash

Monday, 15 September 2008

Interlude: A Random Selection of Pulp and Trash

A post that required not only no brains, but an actual negative quantity of brains...

12 comments:

That Hank said...: I own a copy of 21 Gay Street, but with a different cover. If I remember, I'll dig it up and scan it.; 16 September 2008 at 05:57
Steerforth said...: Where did you find these? Superb!; 16 September 2008 at 14:29
JRSM said...: You mean '21 Gay Street' went through more than one edition? That's astounding!

I've been collecting these covers for a while--two good sources are Trash Fiction and Pulp of the Day(linked in the sidebar), and others come from places like 'If Charley parker Were a Gunslinger There'd be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats' (tsutpen.blogspot.com/), a site in which you can lose yourself for hours, as well as www.vintagepbks.com, www.strangesisters.com and www.gayontherange.com; 16 September 2008 at 16:47
Anonymous said...: Glorious stuff, JRSM. I knew Kerouac belonged among that lot. I particularly like Abnormals Anonymous and I seem to remember that Guy N. Smith was an inspiration (along with Shaun Hutson and the like) for Garth Marenghi.; 17 September 2008 at 00:14
That Hank said...: I forgot to look for it last night - but yes, it had a slightly less lurid cover. I picked it up at the flea market a few months ago.; 17 September 2008 at 05:46
JRSM said...: I'd not heard of Gareth Marenghi before: thanks for the link. This is a show I'd like to see. From 'Night of the Crabs': 'He wasn't going to leave Pat Benson on her own, crabs or no crabs.' A true gentleman.

A less lurid cover for '21 Gay Street'? That seems a wasted opportunity!; 17 September 2008 at 16:27
Lucy Fishwife said...: Weren't the 50s fantastic? I wonder if it was part of the same McCarthy syndrome that produced "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and was terrified that SOCIETY WAS GOING TO HELL IN A HANDCART - DRUGS, HOMOSEXUALITY, PROMISCUITY, THOSE COMMIES ARE POISED TO JUST WALK IN AND TAKE OVER!!!!!! However I LOVE the look of "Homo Hill". Absolutely nothing there to offend even my gayest friends. I will be buying them all copies to remind them what a menace to society they are...; 18 September 2008 at 02:37
JRSM said...: I love the way ephemeral trash like 'Homo Hill' gets seriously catalogued in libraries: in this case, for example, it comes under the following helpful sections:
Cruising.
Hustlers.
Rough trade.
Gays and the police.
Gay community - Los Angeles.
Psychiatry and homosexuality.
Medical constructions of homosexuality.

More than Matt Bradley ever intended, I suspect.; 21 September 2008 at 18:06
That Hank said...: Okay, I found my book, but I was wrong. It's actually a copy of 69 Gay Street. My, Gay Street was a lively place.; 22 September 2008 at 07:24
JRSM said...: It really was. I made the mistake of doing a Google Image search for "69 gay street" to see what that book might look like. It was not successful, and the images I DID get back have damaged my brain. I do not recommend it!; 22 September 2008 at 16:32
Kylie said...: I would love to read some of those! I loved 'Abnormals Anonymous' as well.

Thanks for sharing the links to those websites; I love vintage covers.; 22 September 2008 at 23:01
JRSM said...: My pleasure. I love the way the artist for the 'Abnormals Anonymous' cover was obviously struggling to show just how abnormal the characters were: the man is... KNITTING! (Gasp!) The woman is smoking... A CIGAR! (Scream!); 22 September 2008 at 23:31

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