tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post2085138296752820995..comments2024-02-14T03:20:23.057-08:00Comments on Pop Sensation: Paperback 555: The Saracen Blade / Frank Yerby (Cardinal C-124)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-42797647965745916702012-09-07T06:14:44.658-07:002012-09-07T06:14:44.658-07:00I love this cover. I would love to have it as a p...I love this cover. I would love to have it as a painting.Doug Brunellhttp://www.amazon.com/NOTHING-MEN-ebook/dp/B005NTW7IQnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-83560758457101233962012-09-02T04:45:09.064-07:002012-09-02T04:45:09.064-07:00(Possible duplicate post--sorry)
For many years, ...(Possible duplicate post--sorry)<br /><br />For many years, few people even knew that Yerby was black. His publishers were afraid that it would cause a scandal and decline in sales (particularly in the south) if readers knew the "lusty" and "racy" tales they were reading were written by a black man. Even when his photograph began appearing on dust jackets, he was often lit in a way that de-emphasized his skin color. It seems insane today, but that was how things were in mid-20th century America.Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-10937837084432028522012-09-01T15:56:57.272-07:002012-09-01T15:56:57.272-07:00I just finished reading this book not that long ag...I just finished reading this book not that long ago. Alas, my copy didn't have half-nekkid tied up women on the cover.<br /><br />Don't let this cover fool you, though. The story actually spends very little time on the Crusades.Random White Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15465220442157543305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-15387046733863235792012-08-31T20:18:45.980-07:002012-08-31T20:18:45.980-07:00Thanks, Patrick. His life path sounds a *lot* like...Thanks, Patrick. His life path sounds a *lot* like Chester Himes's (black ex-Pat who chooses Eur. over US for reasons of tolerance and then lives out his life in Spain).<br /><br />RPRex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-8254473791397619642012-08-31T15:00:19.012-07:002012-08-31T15:00:19.012-07:00Funny thing about that "black hand" - Fr...Funny thing about that "black hand" - Frank Yerby was an African-American novelist. He made a pot of money writing more than 30 historical romances. He was the first African-American writer to become a millionaire, and the first to sell a novel to Hollywood and have it made into a movie (<i>The Foxes of Harrow</i>). Initially he wrote mainly about white protagonists (probably because it was more lucrative to do so), but he broadened his subject matter in later novels such as <i>The Dahomean</i>. He was a proud man who loathed racial discrimination and left the United States permanently in 1955 because he felt he could find greater tolerance in Europe; he lived the rest of his life in Spain. Yerby was underrated and overlooked for a long time, but thankfully is receiving more attention now. He was a skillful popular novelist and an inspiring pioneer. He simply would not let <b>anyone</b> tell him that he couldn't make a living by his pen.Patrick Murthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08103905929956454199noreply@blogger.com