Most used pseudonyms, even the hack authors, but as said before, many are pseudonyms for well known authors moonlighting for a paycheque to put food on the table.
I wondered if anyone would notice the same artwork - good spot @Barbel I will post some covers that used the same artwork on different titles sometime in the future.
In America they were sold in independent stores (grocery, pharmacy etc.), newsstands, transportation hubs and independent bookstores. In the UK pretty much the same but not airports. I’m not sure city book stores could be classed as “dodgy”, I, for one, traded on a high street not underground, paid my bills and taxes. Most independent shop owners operated the same way, which is more than can be said about certain celebrity chains like Jamie Oliver who makes his company bankrupt (owing millions to small operators - sometimes bankrupting them) whilst keeping their personal fortunes intact.
American airports sold them, as far as I know British airports only sold British publications so they were not available, but I think some coach stations used to sell them.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
By dodgy, I meant 'pornographic' - like the ones we get in London's Soho, though now they lean towards magazines and DVDs.
Because, honestly, some of these covers are so racy they are top shelf, I can't see how they'd be allowed to be exhibited in any normal bookshop, given the mores back then, or even today. That's the funny thing though, everything was strait-laced in the 1960s and 70s but in other ways it wasn't, so soft porn mags were on every shelf in most newsagents. Whereas now I only see them in a newsagents run by second-generation immigrants in Pound Lane Epsom, which seems to be an undisturbed corner of the 1970s, even the sweets seem to come from that era.
I don’t, and never did, classify the books that I sold (as seen above) as pornographic. Admittedly it depends on anyone’s perception of pornographic. I had a few irate “campaigners” telling me what I could and could not sell in my own shop over the years, none of them would even listen to what I had to say, so in the end they had to listen to CHB telling them in very clear, direct terms what I thought, leaving no room for misunderstanding, before being ejected, usually with customers laughing and applauding.
I was offered many times actual pornographic books to sell which I always refused. I never sold anything more lurid than the books I’ve been posting over the past few years. As I said, it all depends on anyones definition of ‘pornographic.”
I haven’t been to Epsom for decades, I’m surprised they ever sold soft porn magazines!
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
@Napoleon Plural I don’t know if they were sold in Soho porn shops as I never frequented them, I doubt they would have been lurid enough though having seen samples some of the sales agents showed me of stock they were pushing.
As far as I know the mainstream shops like WH Smith wouldn’t touch them, I don’t think they ever sold American pulp paperbacks of any genre. I know Woolworth’s sold the NEL range of western/horror/biker/skinhead titles because when they sold them off for 10p each when they discontinued stocking them, I travelled all around London and the Home Counties in my trusty Transit van buying every copy up that each store had.
Anyway, let’s leave it at that and I look forward to reading some more of your remarkable film reviews 🍻
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I always thought these were American novels, @Napoleon Plural This website is worth a look. These are US erotic novels. Sex novels if you like. Frankly, the titles read just the same. In fact, I thought we had covers for Love Doctor, Sex Town and Trailer Camp Woman, but I can't be bothered to check back.
For those who like the crime genre I recommend the books of Raymond Chandler, his Philip Marlowe private eye is a classic character of the hard boiled novel. Ian Fleming was an admirer of his work.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,001Chief of Staff
Again, another author who’s work I’ve never read…👀
Dirty Harry and Our Man Flint were novelisations of the movies. I think Some Like It Hot was the screenplay. The others were reprinted when the movies appeared and the movies follow the basic plot but with differences, for instance in Psycho Norman Bates is middle aged, tubby and drinks a lot.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I have just one complaint about the king of private eye fiction: he only wrote seven novels about Philip Marlowe, the king of private eyes. There are a bunch of short stories as well, but that's a different, er, story. Anyway, I'm with CHB, @Sir Miles - try one, you might like it.
Nice series of covers above.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,001Chief of Staff
At last, books I have actually read! Well, most of them anyway.
I liked that Deighton cover, which makes it clear that this is part of the "Harry Palmer" (yes, I know) series even though it was sadly never filmed. Plans to do that after Billion Dollar Brain were abandoned - the spy boom was over for one thing, and Michael Caine didn't want to do another at that point. I'd say it should have been filmed earlier and that the cryptic title didn't help.
Nice Fleming cover, hadn't seen that before.
I remember reading 4 Bulldog Drummond novels in one volume when I was a boy. They were okay but didn't make me want to search out more.
Adam Hall's Quiller series was excellent. Well written and involving. Anyone remember the TV series? Unfortunately they only used one of the book series, the rest were original stories.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,001Chief of Staff
I read The Thirty-Nine Steps years ago…I’ve read quite a few Deighton - but not that one 🤔
I read a couple of the Sax Rohmer Fu-Manchu’s and one Bulldog Drummond….
I thought Horse Under Water was the most cinematic of the Deighton "Palmer" novels. It would gave made a good movie, although the diving scenes might drag. But there you go.
I don’t remember the Quiller television series, I saw the George Segal movie, that was good, John Barry’s score is excellent, especially Wednesday’s Child.
I like Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu books. I’ve probably read about a hundred Nick Carter’s (mostly when I was a teenager) but no interest in reading any more now. Bulldog Drummond I found hard going, though I loved the Richard Johnson updated movies. The “Palmer” books were good. The Spillane Tiger Mann series was so-so, his best work was behind him.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The Western genre was very popular in my shop and some of my more fanatical regulars used to wear cowboy hats when visiting, one used to dress in full western gear!
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,001Chief of Staff
I hope the guy that wore full western gear wore the proper hat - a Derby 🤨😁
I quite like Western movies but don't want to read the books.
Useless information: Matt Helm author Donald Hamilton started off writing Western novels. Quite successfully, too - one was filmed as "The Big Country" (incredible theme, big stars).
DID (Damsels in Distress) was a sub-genre relating to the covers that showed such scenes. They are extremely popular for collectors and high prices are guaranteed.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Comments
They kind of look like pulpy airport novels but I don't know if they were sold in that way. Maybe too racy an airport?
Most used pseudonyms, even the hack authors, but as said before, many are pseudonyms for well known authors moonlighting for a paycheque to put food on the table.
I wondered if anyone would notice the same artwork - good spot @Barbel I will post some covers that used the same artwork on different titles sometime in the future.
In America they were sold in independent stores (grocery, pharmacy etc.), newsstands, transportation hubs and independent bookstores. In the UK pretty much the same but not airports. I’m not sure city book stores could be classed as “dodgy”, I, for one, traded on a high street not underground, paid my bills and taxes. Most independent shop owners operated the same way, which is more than can be said about certain celebrity chains like Jamie Oliver who makes his company bankrupt (owing millions to small operators - sometimes bankrupting them) whilst keeping their personal fortunes intact.
American airports sold them, as far as I know British airports only sold British publications so they were not available, but I think some coach stations used to sell them.
By dodgy, I meant 'pornographic' - like the ones we get in London's Soho, though now they lean towards magazines and DVDs.
Because, honestly, some of these covers are so racy they are top shelf, I can't see how they'd be allowed to be exhibited in any normal bookshop, given the mores back then, or even today. That's the funny thing though, everything was strait-laced in the 1960s and 70s but in other ways it wasn't, so soft porn mags were on every shelf in most newsagents. Whereas now I only see them in a newsagents run by second-generation immigrants in Pound Lane Epsom, which seems to be an undisturbed corner of the 1970s, even the sweets seem to come from that era.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I don’t, and never did, classify the books that I sold (as seen above) as pornographic. Admittedly it depends on anyone’s perception of pornographic. I had a few irate “campaigners” telling me what I could and could not sell in my own shop over the years, none of them would even listen to what I had to say, so in the end they had to listen to CHB telling them in very clear, direct terms what I thought, leaving no room for misunderstanding, before being ejected, usually with customers laughing and applauding.
I was offered many times actual pornographic books to sell which I always refused. I never sold anything more lurid than the books I’ve been posting over the past few years. As I said, it all depends on anyones definition of ‘pornographic.”
I haven’t been to Epsom for decades, I’m surprised they ever sold soft porn magazines!
I didn't say the books you sold or depicted were pornographic. I was just saying, that's the kind of places they might have been sold.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
@Napoleon Plural I don’t know if they were sold in Soho porn shops as I never frequented them, I doubt they would have been lurid enough though having seen samples some of the sales agents showed me of stock they were pushing.
As far as I know the mainstream shops like WH Smith wouldn’t touch them, I don’t think they ever sold American pulp paperbacks of any genre. I know Woolworth’s sold the NEL range of western/horror/biker/skinhead titles because when they sold them off for 10p each when they discontinued stocking them, I travelled all around London and the Home Counties in my trusty Transit van buying every copy up that each store had.
Anyway, let’s leave it at that and I look forward to reading some more of your remarkable film reviews 🍻
I always thought these were American novels, @Napoleon Plural This website is worth a look. These are US erotic novels. Sex novels if you like. Frankly, the titles read just the same. In fact, I thought we had covers for Love Doctor, Sex Town and Trailer Camp Woman, but I can't be bothered to check back.
Vintage Greenleaf Classics Books
For those who like the crime genre I recommend the books of Raymond Chandler, his Philip Marlowe private eye is a classic character of the hard boiled novel. Ian Fleming was an admirer of his work.
Again, another author who’s work I’ve never read…👀
You could do much worse than give one a go, Sir Miles.
Movie Tie-ins…
Do we know how closely the films followed the book? 🤔
Dirty Harry and Our Man Flint were novelisations of the movies. I think Some Like It Hot was the screenplay. The others were reprinted when the movies appeared and the movies follow the basic plot but with differences, for instance in Psycho Norman Bates is middle aged, tubby and drinks a lot.
Chandler! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I have just one complaint about the king of private eye fiction: he only wrote seven novels about Philip Marlowe, the king of private eyes. There are a bunch of short stories as well, but that's a different, er, story. Anyway, I'm with CHB, @Sir Miles - try one, you might like it.
Nice series of covers above.
I’ll keep an eye out at the second hand bookstores 😁
To keep @Napoleon Plural out of “dodgy” bookshops 😉 and to keep @Sir Miles happy 😁
I'm laughing at the convenient pieces of clothing to prevent total nudity. The penultimate cover reminds me of
for that reason.
Wow…wow…and wow 😮
How much are you asking for those, @CoolHandBond ?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I stopped trading back in 2013, NP. Typical price ranges for those books would have been £25-£50 each, depending on cover artwork and condition.
Espionage…
The Nick Carter series ended up with over 30 million books in print!
At last, books I have actually read! Well, most of them anyway.
I liked that Deighton cover, which makes it clear that this is part of the "Harry Palmer" (yes, I know) series even though it was sadly never filmed. Plans to do that after Billion Dollar Brain were abandoned - the spy boom was over for one thing, and Michael Caine didn't want to do another at that point. I'd say it should have been filmed earlier and that the cryptic title didn't help.
Nice Fleming cover, hadn't seen that before.
I remember reading 4 Bulldog Drummond novels in one volume when I was a boy. They were okay but didn't make me want to search out more.
Adam Hall's Quiller series was excellent. Well written and involving. Anyone remember the TV series? Unfortunately they only used one of the book series, the rest were original stories.
I read The Thirty-Nine Steps years ago…I’ve read quite a few Deighton - but not that one 🤔
I read a couple of the Sax Rohmer Fu-Manchu’s and one Bulldog Drummond….
I thought Horse Under Water was the most cinematic of the Deighton "Palmer" novels. It would gave made a good movie, although the diving scenes might drag. But there you go.
I don’t remember the Quiller television series, I saw the George Segal movie, that was good, John Barry’s score is excellent, especially Wednesday’s Child.
I like Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu books. I’ve probably read about a hundred Nick Carter’s (mostly when I was a teenager) but no interest in reading any more now. Bulldog Drummond I found hard going, though I loved the Richard Johnson updated movies. The “Palmer” books were good. The Spillane Tiger Mann series was so-so, his best work was behind him.
The Western genre was very popular in my shop and some of my more fanatical regulars used to wear cowboy hats when visiting, one used to dress in full western gear!
I hope the guy that wore full western gear wore the proper hat - a Derby 🤨😁
I quite like Western movies but don't want to read the books.
Useless information: Matt Helm author Donald Hamilton started off writing Western novels. Quite successfully, too - one was filmed as "The Big Country" (incredible theme, big stars).
It was a stetson, in fact I think they all wore stetsons!
Jerome Moross’s Big Country theme is certainly a classic. It’s probably only second to Elmer Bernstein’s Magnificent Seven theme.
DID (Damsels in Distress) was a sub-genre relating to the covers that showed such scenes. They are extremely popular for collectors and high prices are guaranteed.
Not too keen on the subject matter but some nice paintings (? drawings - no idea) there.