Friday, July 22, 2011

Paperback 441: Strange Ones / Ben Travis (Beacon B226)

Paperback 441: Beacon B 226 (PBO, 1959)

Title: Strange Ones
Author: Ben Travis
Cover artist: Darcy

Yours for: $25

StrangeOnes.Gay

Best things about this cover:
  • That is indeed the look of a man who "tried to love a woman" ... and then discovered she had a penis. "Why does this keep happening to me!?"
  • "I don't understand why we keep playing hide-and-seek. There's just this one room and there's nowhere to hide." "Shut up, hide your eyes, and start counting!" "[Sigh] 1, 2, 3 ..."
  • "Look at my armpit. She is sexy, no? You like ..."
  • Sideboob! Two books in a row!

StrangeOnesBC.Gay

Best things about this back cover:
  • Arrows say he had "warped desires," but then text says he was poor and hungry and turned tricks so he could eat. That hardly seems fair.
  • "To prove his manhood, Ray raped a girl." Who doesn't love a good old-fashioned "Boy Rapes Girl To Become Ungay" story?
  • For all the stupidity of this back cover, I love the arrows. Nice design element.

Page 123~

"The conclusion seems rather obvious to me. Either I have too vivid an imagination, or you're living with Luther now and he's keeping you for your only talent."

Somewhat anti-climactically, that "talent" turns out to be "making hand shadow puppets."

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Tumblr]

10 comments:

Katie said...

But is it frank?

Anonymous said...

Is she wearing a dry cleaning bag?

Brian Busby said...

Half the arrows have their tips cut off. Clearly a none-to-subtle allusion to male circumcision.

Lisa in Oz said...

I just can't get over how amazing her anti-gravity boobs are. She must coat them in superglue to get her clothes to stay on like that.

DemetriosX said...

I love the placement of the Beacon icon. Very subtle.

andys said...

Also, how the hell is her lingerie staying up? Body glue? "A frank novel about double stick tape."

Anonymous said...

I hate to be That Person, but it's actually The Strange Ones. The first word's printed so small it gets lost.

Larry said...

Just had to do a search on "Sideboob" and nothing but the present two came into view. Of course, being at work I had plenty of time to trawl through the collection. Paperback 354 should be in the dictionary as an illustration of textbook Sideboob.

While on the subject I read an interview with Mila Kunis who said that in the upcoming Romcom with Justin Timberlake she showed Sideboob.

Larry said...

Er, 437 and 420 also.

borky said...

Cover:

Brunette: "Aren't my armpits the most ravishing thing imaginable?"

Guy: "I know with Alopecia you don't need to shave them any more, but you're still supposed to wash them! Look at me over here - I'm blacking out from onion gas fumes, and the sheer toxicity's peeling the skin off your body!"