Friday, May 31, 2013

Paperback 647: Bats Fly at Dusk / A. A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner) (Dell 0476)

Paperback 647: Dell 0476 (1st New Dell ed., 1963)

Title: Bats Fly at Dusk
Author: A.A. Fair (aka Erle Stanley Gardner)
Cover artist: Ron Lesser

Yours for: $7

Dell0476

Best things about this cover:
  • Just woke up, or the latest style? Who can say?
  • Bats Fly at Dusk ... Ladies Strip at Dawn.
  • This cover has neither enough skin nor enough context to be interesting. 
  • I know this will sound heretical, but I think the dress would be sexier *on* her.
  • This book is close to immaculate. I just found a box full of (primarily) Gardner/Fair stuff. A reader graciously shipped it to me a while back, and I looked at its treasure, then set it aside, and forgot about it. So it's vintage paperback Christmas all over again.

Dell0476bc

Best things about this back cover:
  • Is she standing in front of the silhouette of  ... a badge? A vase? A strawberry?
  • I like how he's not sure about the age, but he's got the pounds down to a very precise number.
  • Every time I pick up a Cool/Lam book, I say to myself, "Man, I really gotta read some of these again." And then other books intervene.

Page 123~

"I told Miss Jackson that if she wanted to stay on in the place alone the raise in rent wouldn't be effective. Miss Jackson really seems like a nice sort, exactly the type I like for tenants."

I'm a little worried for Miss Jackson.

~RP

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Personally, I love the cover. I have a copy of this edition (along with others). I think the Cool & Lam mysteries are among the very best out there.

Great blog, by the way!

Anonymous said...

The shape behind her is the vanity mirror from the front cover...

Anonymous said...

I have to disagree with your assessment of the dress - I think that length of bared hip is intriguing and atypical.