Friday, October 30, 2015

Paperback 913: One More Unfortunate / Edgar Lustgarten (Bantam 360)

Paperback 913: Bantam 360 (1st ptg, 1949)

Title: One More Unfortunate
Author: Edgar Lustgarten
Cover artist: Bernard Safran

Estimated value: $15-20

Bant360
Best things about this cover:
  • "I was Mr. Arm Veins 1938, 1939, and 1941. Don't ask about 1940. Here, drink this."
  • "First, let me show you this here invention I come up with. I call it, 'The Butt Scratcher'...."
  • Wow, when he rolls up his sleeves, he really Rolls Up His Sleeves.
  • That knife-arm, everything about it, is really striking. And yet I'm weirdly mesmerized by the torn wallpaper patch (authentic seediness!) and her shoes, which I really wish I could see in profile. And closer up.

Bant360bc
Best things about this back cover:
  • Young Ronald Reagan was not allowed to ride the children's choo-choo train. Would / he / die?!
  • I love how the issue here isn't the horrific fate of Kate Haggerty, but how her horrific fate might reflect on Captain White Man.
  • Damn evidence. Always with the mounting.

Page 123~

He gave his answer in loud, almost truculent tones.

Ooh, I like that. I think I'm gonna steal it. "Almost Truculent: The Rex Parker Story"

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Tumblr]

3 comments:

Patrick Murtha said...

That is a sensational cover that really makes me want to read the book. Lustgarten wrote many accounts of true crimes as well as novels (this one is his first).

Unknown said...

Back cover bullet 2: THANK YOU. I mean, I guess that would be a different novel, but the cover writer still could've shown some hint of sensitivity toward the person who already DID die.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.