Thursday, November 22, 2007

Paperback 46: Fawcett / Gold Medal M2268

Paperback 46: Fawcett / Gold Medal M2268 (3rd ptg, 1971)

Title: The Crossroads
Author: John D. MacDonald
Cover artist: Uncredited


Best things about this cover:

  • "Look at my shoulder holster! Look at it! Yeah, that's right. You better be afraid!"
  • Floating Head says: "You dance funny, little man."
  • This book has much better cover copy than it does art. See back cover...

Best things about this back cover:

  • Centeredness makes back cover copy look like a poem - an awesome poem. Not sure which is my favorite phrase here: "sadistic chiseler" or "musclebound lover-boy." Probably the latter. Also, I love Anything having to do with a motel. Motels are my second-biggest thematic obsession, after Revenge.
  • Ridiculous, arbitrary formatting - the gun-toting fist breaks up the text in absurd ways. It's like someone opened up a little door in a wall and is now about to shoot through it blindly.
  • John D. MacDonald looks like the biggest Poindexter ever. His glasses are positively Asimovian. Awesome.

RP

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving, and Thanks for all the Books!

Michael5000 said...

HATE the inset gun! To my eye, it renders the text thus:

"A perfect set-up for robbery murder. perfect setting for and And a this expert chiller by...."

Bad formating can really undermine great poetry.