Sunday, February 28, 2010

2 books handed to me at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament: Book 2

Title: Consultation Room (Pocket 654, 1st ptg, 1949)
Author: Frederic Loom, M.D.
Cover artist: Stanley Meltzoff

Yours for: not for sale

  • "What's the matter, doctor? Do my boobs ... frighten you?" "Er, I'll just put the stethoscope ... uh ... here, or ..." "Be a man!"
  • "Normally, patients sit down for this exam. Also, normally they don't wear wedding dresses to the exam."
  • This book should be called "What the Gigantic Brass Door Handle Knows"
  • "My world has revolved around sex as a pivot" — "... as a pivot"?? That's redundant *and* stupid.
  • "Frank!" I love when paperbacks get "frank." That means people are gonna do it in some non-marital and possibly non-missionary way.

  • Clifton Fadiman shows off his mad (mad mad mad) blurbing skills, while the Dayton News tries, and fails, to make up an adjective.
  • "From the young wife to the woman of 50" — All the way to 50!? Way to push the envelope, guys.
  • "Frank!"

Page 123~

"Don't do it!" she cried when she could speak coherently. "Please let me have my baby now. I don't want to have a Brazilian soldier!"

"Brazilian soldier" being, of course, code for some fairly serious pre-delivery waxing.

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

12 comments:

kelt said...

hmmm, all the way from the "young wife" to the (implied advanced age of) 50, huh? Guess we over 50s don't have problems, or sex, or both.....

Locadora do Werneck said...

What the hell is a Brazilian Soldier?

JRSM said...

That's what I want to know. I can't imagine context makes it any clearer!

Alix said...

These are lucid accounts, mind you, not drug-induced!

Unknown said...

"...accounts of marital and obstetrical problems that have all the fascination of any such inside accounts." Which is to say: None. At all. Ever. Hee hee.

capewood said...

"Brazilian Soldier" brings up quite a few hits in Google but none of then seem particularly relevant. Maybe it's some sort of fancy tropical drink.

Locadora do Werneck said...

I guess we would need to read the whole page to get a better notion of the context.

Michael5000 said...

The actual punctuation used by the Dayton News was probably "a chance for both to learn something and enjoy 'it.'"

Elaine said...

I like that the Herald-Post reviewer winced away from any thought of women over 50.

I wouldn't want to give birth to a Brazilian soldier, either. The 10lb+ baby boy was bad enough.

Raven's Angel said...

Rex, pleeeeeease!!! We need to know what the Brazilian Soldier quote is all about! No other page 123 quote has driven me so crazy about the context before...

Deb said...

I don't know where babies come from, so I guess this book is not for me.

Rick said...

This makes me think of Gene Wilder's arrival at Castle Frankenstin (That's FrankenstEEN.)
To paraphrase, apropos this cover:

"What enormous knobs!"

"Why thank you,Doctor."