Friday, May 4, 2012

Paperback 522: Hope of Heaven / John O'Hara (Avon 258)

Paperback 522: Avon 258 (1st thus, 1950)

Title: Hope of Heaven
Author: John O'Hara
Cover artist: Uncredited

Yours for: $10

Avon258.Hope
Best things about this cover:
  • She's stuck somewhere between sexy strip-tease and "I need help with my coat jackass why are you just standing there staring?"
  • It's a shame she's caught in this awkward in-between state, because if she'd just put the jacket back on and turn around, I bet she'd look stunning. Also, if she just took it off, probably same.
  • She is lit *beautifully*; gives her a fantastic angelic/demonic quality (the deep red backdrop helps with the "demonic" part). 
  • Dude's hair is shiny.


Avon258bc.Hope
Best things about this back cover:
  • I love DON MILLER so much right now. I want to see him in a film noir right now.
  • I kind of want someone to tell naive me what it means that James Malloy "still wondered whether Karen had dimples on her knees," and then again I kind of like just using my imagination.
  • "Frankness!" O man, I've missed "frank"—feels like it's been a while.

Page 123~
   "I'll give you the address of my agent. If you get in a bad jam, I mean you're badly on the nut or something like that, you write me care of this guy, and I'll let you have some more. On one condition."
   "That I never bother Peggy. I know. And thanks for the offer, but I'll never bother you, either. I don't think I will. If I do, don't send me any money. It'll only go for booze. That's what this is going for."
   He had half a load on now, but was carrying it well.
Is this DON MILLER? God I love this guy. "It'll only go for booze." Nosce te ipsum, Don Miller!

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Tumblr]

P.S. Page 120 has this gem, of special relevance to me and my geographical situationality:
"But by that time I didn't give a God damn. I was one of those fellows, give a dog a bad name, and by that time I was living off a whore in Binghamton, New York." [this last phrase is underlined in pen–the only such phrase in the whole book]

6 comments:

Brian Busby said...

A book I bought because of the cover... a book I read because of the cover... a book I recommend in any edition.

Pete said...

Is "dimples on her knees" some kind of code? I'm sure it's pretty easy to ascertain whether a photographer's model has literal dimples on her knees, so it must be code, akin to "owning her own set of knee pads".

Deb said...

It's a shame O'Hara isn't read much anymore. His work--especially his short stories--are superb.

DemetriosX said...

Best dimpled knees of all time: Anne Francis in Forbidden Planet. If you're having problems visualizing this or why James Malloy might be wondering, watch the film and check out her knees.

Deniz Bevan said...

I think the knee dimple thing refers to short skirts...

Deniz Bevan said...

And he'd like to see her hem rise higher...