"She was down to pennies, tears and her bikini…" Is that zeugma? I've been waiting to see zeugma again since I first learned what it was 25 years ago, in my Brit Lit II class, where we were reading Alexander Pope's "Rape of the Lock." And here we are. Zeugma!
This whole concept is not "erotic" to me. It's depressing. Except the triumphant, happy ending where she joins the erotic world of lesbianism. I approve of that.
… and her calves never got sunburned again.
Best things about this back cover:
Texty!
Rex. That's a great name! Terridy, however … that's not even a plausible name, let alone a good one.
"...a meal, a buck, and a bed…" It honestly didn't occur to me at first that "buck" might simply refer to money.
Page 123~
"Then talk, Rex. I like you better when you talk. You warm me."
Title: The Odd Kind Author: Arthur Adlon Cover artist: Milo
From The Doug Peterson Collection (recent addition)
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.
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?"
This site is dedicated to my vintage paperback collection. Every couple of days, I pull a book off the shelf and write about its cover. That's it. To understand the spirit of the blog, please read the following:
