Paperback 1010: Georgia Boy / Erskine Caldwell (Signet 760)

Paperback 1010: Signet 760 (5th ptg, 1957)

Title: Georgia Boy
Author: Erskine Caldwell
Cover artist: James Avati (signed, not attributed)
Interior illustrations: Birger Lundquist (attributed on copyright page)

Condition: 8.5/10
Estimated value: $8-12

Best things about this cover:

• Great Girl Art. Godawful Goon Art. I want to CGI that guy off of the cover.
• "Check under your hood, ma'am? [snort]" Seriously make him go away.
• That guy is not a "boy." In fact, I don't see any boys here at all. False advertising!
• Caldwell was the king of "earthy" "bawdy" midcentury rural near-porn. Country folks are freer with their bodies—more like animals—dontcha know. I never got the appeal.
• It's actually quite good art. I'm just not buying the guy at all. He looks uninterested—like he has a tire rotation to get back to.

Best things about this back cover:

• No alloys here! Looking for alloys? Well, keep moving, buster!
• "This reviewer" LOL. "It was a dark time ... personal pronouns were Forbidden!"
• Ah, who could forget PA STROUP? Everyone? Oh, OK.
• "Yardboy"

The best part of this book by far is the interior illustrations. From the copyright page: "The line drawings by Birger Lundquist are reproduced from the Swedish edition of Georgia Boy (Son av Georgia) by permission of the Forum Publishing Company, Stockholm, Sweden." Here are a couple examples (there's one on about every third page!):

 [better...]

[whoa, racy]

Page 123~

"He told me he wasn't married," Lucy told Ma. "He said he was a single man all the time."

"Single man!" Ma yelled.

She got red in the face again and ran to the fireplace for the poker.

Ah, good ole fire poker: a harried Ma's best friend.

~RP

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