Friday, December 19, 2008

Paperback 178: The Curious Facts Preceding My Execution / Donald Westlake (Ballantine 3307)

Paperback 178: Ballantine 3307 (1st ptg, 1973)

Title: The Curious Facts Preceding My Execution
Author: Donald Westlake
Cover artist: photo cover

Yours for: $22


Best things about this cover:

  • "The Curious Crap I Found In My Closet"
  • This is in contention for the single ugliest cover in my collection. Exhibit A: Mustard. Exhibit B: a mass of objects pulled in one lump from the bottom of some (crazy) lady's storage chest. Case closed.
  • Somehow the wig makes the whole object lump much, much worse. Who thought this was artful!?
  • And yet, while ugly, this is also a very memorable cover. Indelibility: The Up-Side of Ugly.
  • That is a stubbed out cigar in the middle of the rubber mask's forehead. There's also a wig, a diamond necklace, three guns, and a blue thing (gum wrapper?)

Best things about this back cover:

  • "a-burgling"

Page 123~

From "Never Shake a Family Tree"

"Ah," he said. "Forgive my telephoning, please, Mrs. Buckley. We have never met, but I noticed your entry in the current issue of Genealogical Exchange -"


~RP

4 comments:

JamiSings said...

All I can think is that wig hair cannot be good for that gun.

Were they trying to represent every story in the book?

Anonymous said...

Afghanistan bananistan!

pious agnostic said...

Ugly (*shudder*) cover aside, some of those stories sound interesting....

Michael5000 said...

I agree with mr: the blurb on the back is kind of working for me. Plus, I like the title.