Paperback 159: Room for the Rolling M / Bertrand Sinclair (Western Novel Classic 112)

Paperback 159: Western Novel Classic 112 (PBO, 1951)
Title: Room for the Rolling M
Author: Bertrand W. Sinclair
Cover artist: Uncredited [A. Leslie Ross? Norman Saunders?]

Yours for: $15


Best things about this cover:

• "M" is about the last letter I would expect to "roll" anywhere. Too angular.
• That window is some kind of brittle scrim - made out of confectionery, perhaps. Glass does not break like that or look like that.
• His neckerchief is fetching. I also like the shirt. I think this guy has a really bad sunburn or is a rodeo clown. Otherwise, what's up with the aggressively red cheeks?
• His left hand looks contorted / evil.
• What is that "HP" in the corner of the window?
• I love that I can read "Warrant for Arrest" on the document that he has handily tucked inside his gun belt.
• At least this guy can hold a gun, unlike some recent Western cover guys I've featured.

I would show you a back cover, but it's just the same as the last Western Novel Classic back cover. Ho + Hum.

Page 123~

As Mike passed out a rotund Chinaman came bearing a tray.

Poor Mike. I guess it's like they always say: Beware rotund Chinamen bearing trays.

~RP

Paperback 104: Gun-Law for Lavercombe / Charles Alden Seltzer (Belmont 91-258)

Paperback 104: Belmont 91-258 (1st ptg, 1962)

Title: Gun-Law for Lavercombe
Author: Charles Alden Seltzer
Cover artist: uncredited

Yours for: $8


Best things about this cover:

• "Oooh, I'm gonna moon you good, pardner!"
• Charles Alden Seltzer is a pretty uppity name for a guy who wants to write tough-guy westerns
• "I like girls that wear Lavercombe and Fitch..."

Best things about this back cover:

• Death by bull-whip has got to be a particularly bad way to die
• I like how "The Judge" is in quotation marks - I guess he got that name 'cause he likes to "destroy men with his bare fists," just like the judges in Biblical times
• "The Lavercombe Showdown" was an important precursor to "The Lindy Hop" and "The Hustle"

PAGE 123~

She saw Jerry hopping around. Apparently he was searching for something. A rock. Just as her horse reached the level at the bottom of the slope Jerry crouched, the rock in hand.

Then several things seemed to happen at once.

~RP

The Great Paperback Project - Paperback 5: Pocket Books 833

Paperback 5: Pocket Books 833 (1st ptg, 1951)

Title: Of Missing Persons
Author: David Goodis
Cover artist: Ray App

Yours for: $22

"It's OK, baby. Take my hand. I'm a generic non-threatening white man. You've got nothing to worry about..."

Best things about this cover:

• Preposterously upblown skirt, visible bra, fierce heels - that is one hot ledge-walker. She won't get far in those heels, but who cares?
• That guy's tie is sweet. I want one like that.
• The art here is really dynamic - lots of action - and the situation is strange enough to make it really memorable.
• Is he yelling at her? Trying to help her? Showing her his stigmata?
• This book is by David Goodis, one of the most collectible and revered hard-boiled writers of the 50's.

I was able to afford this book only because of its slightly shabby condition - note the many creases, and the "5¢" scribbled in ink in the upper right corner. Still, the cover is vibrant enough, and the book itself solid enough, that I'm really happy with it. I really admire the cover artists who paint in a hyper-realist style, with lots of great little details. I especially like those who can capture action or movement convincingly. My favorite covers of all time tend to be ones where the depicted figures are caught in the middle of some movement.

David Goodis was both superior to and typical of mid-50s crime writers. His writing is outstanding, but his life ... well, its arc was like that of many others. Become a writer, have some success, get lured out to Hollywood, lose your soul, kill yourself. Actually, I'm not sure if he was a suicide, but he died very young. Nope, not suicide. Not exactly. Cirrhosis - so he was a heavy drinker, which also puts him in Good Company, writer-wise. He wrote Down There, the basis for the Truffaut movie "Shoot the Piano Player."

RP