Sunday, March 17, 2013

Paperback 619: The Odd Kind / Arthur Adlon (Beacon B492F)

Paperback 619: Beacon Books B492F (PBO, 1962)

Title: The Odd Kind
Author: Arthur Adlon
Cover artist: Milo

From The Doug Peterson Collection (recent addition)

Beacon492

Best things about this cover:

  • This title answers the question: "What kind of face did the angry lesbian ghost have?"
  • "Ancient rituals" is some through-the-looking-glass euphemism. I guess it's tied to some idea of ancient Lesbos. Or child sacrifice. One or the other.
  • This artist liked to get his models so drunk they pass out. Then wait. Then just as they're awakening from their stupor, bam—paint them!
  • This model's stupor must be considerable. I mean, normally, when a murderous, vengeful, crudely painted ghost materializes in your bedroom in a big cloud of smoke, you'd turn around and look.


Beacon492bc

Best things about this back cover:

  • Whoa. "Bisexual." You don't see that word a lot on paperbacks. Interesting.
  • Re: LA MODENA—The "town in Italy" thing kind of undermines the whole "strange name" thing. "Oooh, your name's so strange." "It's a town in Italy." "Oh ... I see."
  • Oh, sure, LA MODENA is "strange," but *that* dude's name is *totally* normal.
  • I have flipped through this book and that question, "did they want him or each other?" Well, it's each other ... for a while. But then it's him. Pam dies. LA MODENA and Jorge end up together. P.S. Spoiler alert.


Page 123~

Mod laughed nervously. "What will you tell them, baby?"
"How the hell do I know, until they ask me?" Pam answered half seriously. She swung around and regarded Mod critically. "You don't expect me to get up and announce I got married—to a girl—do you?"

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Tumblr]

3 comments:

DemetriosX said...

It's really hard to get past the blonde's eyes. She looks like a toon who's been hit in the head with a shovel. Once you manage to look lower, we see that this is another example of an editor taking a black marker to the art before sending it to the printer. That bra is so obviously not part of the original artwork it's painful. Makes me wonder about the underpants, though. If she wasn't wearing any, then the original painting was pretty damn pornographic. If she was, then why the crude black overlay?

Rick said...

Editor must have said, "Paint Elizabeth Montgomery as an angry lesbian for the cover."

Marla said...

Actually, I think the model for the blonde must have been Kirsten Dunst's mother (or grandmother) - they look amazingly similar.