Paperback 813: I Always Wanted to Be Somebody / Althea Gibson (Pyramid G478)

Paperback 813: Pyramid G478  (1st ptg, 1960)

Title: I Always Wanted to Be Somebody
Author: Althea Gibson (ed. Ed Fitzgerald)
Cover artist: Robert V. Engel (aka 'Engle' for some reason)

Yours for: $18


Best things about this cover:

• Not the most dynamic painting, but striking and endearing, as straight portrait painting goes. Rare, if not unique, in my collection for featuring (or even mentioning the existence of) a female black icon.
• I normally squirm at handwriting fonts, but this one is somehow lovely. Nice change of color on "Somebody."
• I wish this cover (or the back cover) featured more, uh, tennis.

Best things about this back cover:

• There's something at least a little insulting about a back cover photo that showcases the fucking queen, while the ostensible subject of the book is literally marginalized, with her back turned. Also, I resent the idea that shaking hands with the queen makes you "somebody." I want the triumphant, trophy-holding shot!
• This back cover actually makes the book sound fantastic. Minus the "jungle" / "Harlem" connection. That, I could do without. I realize "Asphalt Jungle" is a book / movie title, but still…
• Oooh, *hard* liquor! Wow, that *is* tough. No Bud Light Lime-a-Ritas for her!

Page 123~

CONGRATULATIONS. EDNA CRIED WITH JOY. I KNEW YOU'D DO IT. SUGAR RAY.

~RP

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Paperback 311: Who? / Algis Budrys (Pyramid G339)

Paperback 311: Pyramid G339 (1st ptg, 1958)

Title: Who?
Author: Algis Budrys
Cover artist: Robert V. Engel

Yours for: $10


Best things about this cover:

• Hard to snark — this is one of my favorite scifi covers of all time. That creeptastic design on the robot face is fantastic. Looks like Crow from "MST3K," but way more disturbing.
• The hands on this thing are probably the second-most striking element — they look remarkably alike; very expressive. Amazing articulation in that prosthetic hand. Looks like he might have a large sausage or loaf of bread in those clown trousers of his. Very alarming — and he's coming Right At You — into the heart of the "Allied Sphere." Searchlight + barbed wire completes the dystopic effect. Great design all around.

Best things about this back cover:

• See, this designer knew what the real money shot was on that front cover — The Hand!
• Seriously, I have to give it to Pyramid on this one. The blurbs are gripping and unhilarious. This book may actually go onto my "Read It Someday, You Lazy Oaf" pile.

Page 123~

"But I'll tell you something, Mr. Rogers—" He turned suddenly and faced across the barn. The light was behind him and Rogers saw only his silhouette—the body lost in the shapeless, angular drape of the coveralls, the shoulders square, and the head round and featureless. "Even so, people don't like machines. Machines don't talk and tell you their troubles. Machines don't do anything but what they're made for. They sit there, doing their jobs, and one looks like another—but it may be breaking up inside. It may be getting ready to not plow your field, or not pump your water, or throw a piston into your lap. It might be getting ready to do anything—so people are afraid of them, a little bit, and won't take the trouble to understand them, and they treat them badly. So the machines break down more quickly, and people trust them less, and mistreat them more. So the manufacturers say, 'What's the use of building good machines? The clucks'll only wreck 'em anyway,' and build flimsy stuff, so there're very few good machines being made any more. And that's a shame."

Possibly the best "Page 123" excerpt I've ever offered up. Congrats to Algis Budrys for bringing class and dignity to this blog. Next week, more boobs and bad writing, I promise!

~RP

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