Paperback 907: Treasure of the Brasada / Les Savage, Jr. (Dell 673)

Paperback 907: Dell 673 (1st ptg, 1953)

Title: Treasure of the Brasada
Author: Les Savage, Jr.
Cover artist: Stanley Borack

Estimated value: $8-12

Best things about this cover:

• She's got the whole gun / amulet / boob trifecta going. Dude's like "Whoa... easy."
• Gun-crotch nexus. Who has the phallus now, buddy!
• I think she stopped a lynching. Or else she interrupted some very risky sex play.
• Hey, it's Les Savage's son, Even Less Savage!
• I got this paperback in a vintage clothing store in Minneapolis. 

Best things about this back cover:

• Look out! Arrows!
• "The faint rattle of mesquite berries" is how I will describe the sound of my next chest cold.
• This (long!) description is vague to the point of making me not care.
• "Try it. Come on, try it. I'm here. Try it." These are some pretty mediocre 70s dance song lyrics.

Page 123~

"Let's close the poke," he said.

Early Texans had very lively idiomatic sexual expressions.

~RP

P.S. I've been pretty lax with the updates recently because of a million things, but I'm gonna try diligently to get on a (minimum) M / F posting schedule.

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Tumblr]

Paperback 823: Last of the Breed / Les Savage, Jr. (Dell First Edition 37)

Paperback 823: Dell First Edition 37 (PBO, 1954)

Title: Last of the Breed
Author: Les Savage, Jr.
Cover artist: Stanley Borack

Yours for: $12


Best things about this cover:

• "I told you I didn't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no calves! I told you!"
• Mysterious stranger just wants to borrow a bucket.
• Wardrobe malfunction in 5, 4, 3 ...
• We get it, Stan Borack—you are good at drawing hands. Stop showing off.
• "I don't know, Les, I think this tale might be a bit too savage. Do you think you could make it …?"

Best things about this back cover:

• Looks like this book was in Brian Sheridan's back pocket when he got into whatever he got into on the front cover. Books with war wounds!
• He came alive as a man. It was a good feeling. If this isn't a tale of sexual awakening, I'm gonna be very disappointed.
• What is up with the design on this cover? "The blue arrow going round and round symbolizes life's twists and turns, while the sloppy gray daubs that frame the arrow symbolize the artist's not giving a shit."

Page 123~

Jess Miller was helping a pair of bonneted women near the rear.

Because bonnets make it practically impossible to see back there.

~RP

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Paperback 587: The Nothing Man / Jim Thompson (Dell First Edition 22)

Paperback 587: Dell First Edition 22 (PBO, 1954)

Title: The Nothing Man
Author: Jim Thompson
Cover artist: Stanley Borack

Yours for: nuh uh


Best things about this cover:

• I wish I had a foreground me and background me.
• It's like a PSA against alcohol-induced psychosis: "Hi folks. You ever wake up with that 'not-so-fresh' feeling?"
• By "lost the power to love" they mean he has no penis (if I'm remembering this one right, which I think I am, but I could be confusing it with another Thompson title, as castration / genital mutilation is kind of a recurring theme)
• That guy looks like an actor, but I can't place him. Robert Stack?

Best things about this back cover:

• Yep, this is definitely the (or a) penis-loss story.
• Drink is a poor substitute for a penis, I find.
• Awesome psycho-face.

Page 123~

"That's awfully pretty, Brownie. Did you write that?"

"Yes," I said. "I did it under my pen name, Elizabeth Khayyam. I wrote it one eventide on a wind-swept hill while watching a father bird wing home to his wee ones. There was a long caterpillar in his beak and he had it swung over his shoulders, muffler fashion, as a shield against the wintery cold. I ... listen to me, Deborah! For God's sake, listen!"

"Heckuva job, Brownie," she sneered, right before he bludgeoned her to death with whatever blunt object was handy.

~RP

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Paperback 417: The Day Khrushchev Panicked / George B. Mair (MacFadden Books 50-183)

Paperback 417: MacFadden Books 50-183 (1st ptg, 1963)

Title: The Day Khrushchev Panicked
Author: George B. Mair
Cover artist: Stan Borack

Yours for: $13


Best things about this cover:

• Unless she is about to devour his man parts with razor-sharp teeth, this might be the widest gap I've seen between text and picture. Unless half-naked, chair-averse redheads were used for calming agents during the Cold War. "Ah, a cigarette and a subservient redhead ... I feel refreshed and ready to battle Communism once again!"
• Text says "As Exciting as 'Fail-Safe'," but the downward-facing red arrow subliminally suggests otherwise.
• Has anyone seen my bejabbers? They were here a minute ago...
• The U.S. eventually won the Cold War, due in no small part to the fact that they had Jabbers Christ on their side.
• I insist that everyone reading this post use "bejabbers" at least once today. Let me know how it goes.

Best things about this back cover:

• Well that's the last time I make my hammer-and-sickle insignia out of pie pastry.
• It's true, you know: you cannot deny the terrifying *possibility* of its truth. This book essentially anticipates 95% of 21st-century journalism.

Page 123~

"Perhaps after all," said Trudie thoughtfully, "we only feel self-conscious because we are amateurs."

~RP

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