SIN-A-RAMA: Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties

Rating:
Summary: colorful, informative survey of popular paperbacks
Review: The countless lurid, sexually suggestive pictures of the covers of the mass-market paperbacks of the decade of the 1960s are what cannot help but attract the most attention. But there's more to this retrospective than the sensationalistic covers for enthusiasts of popular culture and paperback book collectors. An inside view of the "sleaze paperback" industry of the time is recounted in essays by four writers; one of whom spent some time in jail for peddling [...]. Passages from some of the books illustrate the genre's elliptical, yet unmistakable style for dealing with the sexual subjects and scenes so the books could get by the [...] censorship. The hundreds of paperbacks identified by their covers with author, publisher, and artist in the caption are divided into main categories appealing to readers of different backgrounds and sexual fantasies. "Sick Suburb," "Butch Swish," and "Sin Revue" are some of these. Another feature beyond the pictures is 15 interviews with writers in the field. A listing of the publishers, an index of pseudonyms used by most of the writers working in the genre, and a second index of the authors real names followed by their pseudonyms are found in the back matter. All in all, a copious collection of a vein of book cover art which also has material on the genre as an area of popular culture flourishing in the 1960s and influencing the culture's regard of sexual matter and treatment of it in following decades.


Rating:
Summary: Great historical & pictorial depiction of sleaze paperbacks!
Review: Sin-A-Rama is the only book on this subject on the market today. Sure, there have been plenty of books discussing the 1940's/1950's pulp paperbacks (sci fi, mystery, etc titles) but this is the only one thus far to delve into the realm of the taboo world of 1960's sleaze paperbacks! The editors do a wonderful job constructing the historical basis for these lurid gems, while also providing the reader with pages and pages of full-color pictures of these naughty novels. The book features great articles by Jay A. Gertzman, Brittany A. Daley, Earl Kemp, and Steve Gertz to name a few. Furthermore, the book features excellent reference material at the back including lists of pen names by Earl Kemp and a publisher's catalog by Brittany A. Daley. The book is also littered with interesting quotes from these rule-breaking books. I would highly advise readers to seek out this book! Oh and I don't know if Amazon.com's personnel ever reads these reviews but there is an error on this book's order page. The editor list is incorrect as the editors were actually (as listed on the back of the book): Brittany A. Daley, Hedi El Kholti, Earl Kemp, Miriam Linna, and Adam Parfrey.

Rating:
Summary: An eye-opening visual survey
Review: Sin-A-Rama: Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties is a full-color gallery of paperback cover artwork from "sleazy" sex-themed paperback books of the 1960's. An introduction surveys the industry and history behind such publications, but most of the text within Sin-A-Rama consists of excerpts from the paperbacks themselves. The covers, done in the realism style with muted shades so common in the 60's, are often quite revealing; bare breasts and nipples are not uncommon, as are a number of kinky, if exaggerated situations. An eye-opening visual survey of the sensuality marketed to popular American culture during the era of the sexual revolution.