Paperback 1069: Various Temptations / Various (!) (Avon T-385)

Paperback 1069: Avon T-385 (PBO, 1955)

Title: Various Temptations

Author: Various

Cover artist: N/A (photo)

Condition: 7/10

Value: $5-8

Best things about this cover:

• "Hey, what should we call this thing? 'Deadly Dames'!? 'Sinful Sirens'!? 'Voluptuous Vixens'!?" "Nah, those all sound too hackneyed and corny. I'm gonna have to think about it some more. Tell you what, just put some placeholder title in there now and we'll come back to it." "Gotcha."
• What kind of vibe am I supposed to be getting from this crummy photo? 'Cause the only vibe I'm currently getting is "Can I lend you a comb? A brush? Something? I want to help."
• Sometimes your big names stay big names, and sometimes ... William Sansom.

Best things about this back cover:

• This is the part where they try to make Literature sound hot.
•  First one's too generic, second one's too ... yeesh, I wanna say 'racist' ... third one's got me curious, I will admit—sounds like his wife performs a sex act on stage, but it could just as easily be that she makes good coffee. And the fourth one, well, I'm all in, if only to see what it means to be "engulfed" (!) in "erotic impulses"—smothered in some horrible vibrator factory accident, I imagine / hope.
• There's only one way I like my heiresses, and that's wayward. No chaste, well-behaved heiresses for me, no thank you.

Page 123~ [from "The Dare," by Budd Schulberg]

Paul rose, and leaned on the railing of the pier to watch the sport. Only then did the yellow-brown halter above the deep-tan midriff inform him of the sex of the skier.

Talking halter tops! Again, I'm in! Also, "the quick yellow-brown halter jumped over the lazy deep-tan sex midriff" is one hell of a typing exercise, you should try it. No "g" but who needs "g" anyway?

~RP

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