Thursday, April 30, 2009

Paperback 225: Winner Take All / James McKimmey (Dell First Edition A185)

Paperback 225: Dell First Edition A185 (PBO, 1959???)

Title: Winner Take All
Author: James McKimmey
Cover artist: Darcy (what's his first name?)

Yours for: don't know ...

I'm posting a book I don't have in front of me. I have its scans on my computer, but I don't know where it is, physically (buried in my collection, no doubt). I usually blog books that I have right in front of me, but I can't scan any new books til I replace my printer/scanner (soon), so I'm relying on old scans for the moment. I'll run across the book eventually. For now, enjoy the scans ...



Best things about this cover:

  • The abbreviation "GGA" (for Great Girl Art) gets attributed to a Lot of books, but this one truly deserves the tag. Wow. Shapely, classy, with an amazing face, exquisite hands, a stunning dress, and great dark accents giving her hair a kind of controlled kinetic feel. Yes, I will spend all my money at this table.
  • Sadly for her, her head appears to be bathing in a haze of smoke that starts somewhere around shoulder level.
  • Love how the red title tapers down into her hands, ending in a small pile of red chips
  • Always nice when an artist signs his work (or his signature doesn't get cropped in production). Here, Darcy has put the signature near where people are apt to look, i.e. in the vicinity of her rear end.



Best things about this back cover:

  • Well, I bet you didn't see that coming.
  • Before Garanimals, there was ... Paris Belts. "This one goes with gray, moron."
  • I can count on one hand the number of paperbacks that I own with advertisements on their back covers. Really truly odd/rare.
  • I actually love the design, with the different colored dots and then the same-sized logo with the little Paris man and his proud puffy shirt
  • Who wrote the cover copy, Yoda? "Rugged these belts are."
  • "the finest long-stretch elastic ever used in belt-making" - you don't say. Why, that is impressive.
  • Two of the belts have coats-of-arms, so you can rule Scotland in style.

No Page 123, sadly, as I have no book in front of me ... aargh. OK, I'm getting a printer/scanner tomorrow.

~RP

6 comments:

Alix said...

Judging from her windswept hair, it's a bit breezy in that casino.

BEST. BACK COVER. EVER!

Nicole "Gidget" Kalstein said...

The very first thing I thought when I first glanced at the front cover was, "THAT GIRL IS AMAZING!"

I'd give all my casino chips to look like her.

Also, the back cover made me literally laugh out loud. I truly did NOT see that coming. I was hoping for some steamy tidbits giving the reader a taste of what's inside...instead, I got an ad telling me what color belt to wear with what color pants.

It's fantastic.

J. Kingston Pierce said...

"Darcy" is the pseudonym of paperback illustrator Ernest Chiriacka. You can find out more about him here:

http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/
2009/04/cains-woman-by-og-benson.html

Cheers,
Jeff

Dirt Diggler said...

The presumed blond-headed "Linda" looks like a sweet, wholesome, blue-eyed Shirley Jones-type when you merely look at her face. (Imagine: Oklahoma!) ... but then notice the lighting contrast at the jawline.... if you look at it long enough, her head appears to be photo-shopped on top of her darkened neck. I originally half expected the head of a torch singer with long straight peek-a-boo bangs, a lit cigarette, and a bourbon. (Imagine: Veronica Lake/Rita Hayworth as "Gilda" 1946.)

---The juxtaposition of good girl atop bad girl, purity and jadedness, makes her even more captivating, if not beguiling.

Dan said...

McKimmey was a writer who had his moments....

libwitch said...

That back cover had me a bit confused for a moment.

Now I am trying to decide if this was a good ad fit for the reader audience. I am still undecided.