Sunday, December 9, 2007

Paperback 53: Croydon 57

Paperback 53: Croydon 57 (PBO, 1954)

Title: Love-Crazy Millionaire
Author: Gordon Semple
Cover artist: Bernard Safran


Best things about this cover:

  • Wow, this guy really loves boats.
  • Are they on a boat? Because they are both oddly listing toward my left.
  • She appears to be very drunk - I cannot imagine her speaking in anything but very slurred speech. Also, her hands are quite mannish. And no one that blond should have eyebrows that black.
  • That man is one of the grosser-looking men in paperback cover history. He has a weirdly soft baby face with greasy, patchy old-man hair and an oddly hairy and wrinkly neck.
  • "Office wife" is a great 1950's concept. Many paperbacks "worry" aloud about this phenomenon.
  • Artist's signature right across the back of the chair - Bernard Safran was a very accomplished illustrator and artist. For more on his career, go here.


Best things about this back cover:

  • Wow, the writing is really, truly horrible.
  • I'm going to start saying "Wanna bet, Sue!?" any time I want to sound menacing.
  • "Queerly, it intrigued her" - hmmm, now I'm interested.

RP

3 comments:

Michael5000 said...

1. I like a title that tells you what the book is about. It's called "Love-Crazy Millionaire." What's it about? Three guesses!

2. "Wanna bet you'll be good before I get sore?" What the hell? Did he just say that?

3. Boats, baby!

4. michael5000's First Observation on Great Literature: If there is a blurb on the jacket that reads "[Brand X] Novels are written by outstanding authors," [Brand X] novels are not, in fact, written by outstanding authors.

Anonymous said...

Why the devil were they always named Tommy? Why oh why, she thought, must they always be queerly attractive poor lambs named Tommy?

G said...

Poor, poor Tommy! I can only imagine what Sue's going to do to him before he gets sore...