CDC, our many non-U.S. readers may need to know, stands for the Centers for Disease Control, and while maybe it’s not in the best taste to kid about coronavirus, when did taste ever matter us? There’s virus rampant where we live, but luckily we don’t have to leave our place, which is the benefit of having weeks of food in the larder and your entire work life online. Our last foray outside was for PSGP’s birthday party last Saturday, for which we made lots of hand sanitizer out of aloe gel, anti-microbial lavender oil, and vodka. These props were intended as a little joke, but our ulterior motive was to remind everyone to take the precautions recommended by health authorities. We predicted that night would be the last hurrah around here for a while and we were right, as now schools, sporting events, and other gatherings of people have been restricted. We’re glad we had one last get-together before those changes came, and so far—fingers crossed—all fifty or so people that showed up seem to be fine.
Other people who are getting in a last get-together are the couple on this cover of Len Zinberg’s Strange Desires, originally published in 1946 as What D’ya Know for Sure. This great piece was painted for Avon’s 1949 edition by Ann Cantor, who we’ve featured several times, including on Maurice Leblanc’s Wanton Venus, one of our personal favorites. Zinberg was the real name of prolific U.S. author Ed Lacy, whose boxing opus Go for the Body we just talked about last week. No boxing in this one, unless clinches count. This is about Hollywood, making movies, industry ambition, redemption for the damaged, and those sorts of things. Just like in Go for the Body the narrative makes a surprising turn near the end, and just like in The Woman Aroused, the story hinges on a disturbed femme fatale. Like we said‚ Zinberg/Lacy was prolific, which we guess means he borrowed from himself occasionally. We should know—we’ve been borrowing from ourselves here for twelve years. More Zinberg/Lacy coming soon.
