It’s been several years, so we’re revisiting the art of Oscar Liebman today with this cover for Ken Kane’s 1964 novel Strip Tease Queen. You may remember Liebman’s work intrigued us from the first. We knew it was unique and eye-pleasing, but we weren’t sure if that belief was merely our preference, or something more objective. It turned out it was objective—Liebman gained wide recognition in the art world. He attended the Art Students League of New York during the 1930s on a scholarship, and eventually painted posters for many Broadway musicals including Man of La Mancha and West Side Story. Later he produced book covers and illustrated stories in major magazines, including Collier’s. Sometimes you have to attune your eyes and brain to an unfamiliar style. Now that we’ve done that we can see how awesome his work is.
We managed to find this copy of Strip Tease Queen at an inexpensive price, and it tells the story of Kit Forbes, who wants “all the luxuries of the world” and is willing to do anything to get them. After marrying a wealthy man only to have his father disown him, she heads to Miami for a divorce and, running low on cash, takes a job as a burlesque dancer. Everything in this book is as expected except one aspect: Kit seems to have a crush on her brother Gregg! (every time she thinks his name it’s with an exclamation mark). Here’s how Kane writes Kit’s arrival to Miami: No one was meeting her, but there was someone she must see. Gregg! The thought made her pulse beat faster.
Okay. So Gregg! is why she went to Miami in the first place, but when Kit arrives he’s nowhere to be found. Hmm. Turns out the guy is a crook and scoundrel hiding from the cops. Swooping in during the wee hours, he borrows every cent Kit possesses and loses it, then takes more without bothering to ask. She finally catches on that he’s bad news, and declines to protect him from the police just when he needs it most. In the end she settles down with her sometime boyfriend Jim. Interestingly, the whole Gregg! subtext is a red herring. Kit never has a sexual encounter with him, nor comes very close, so we guess it was a tactic by Kane to keep incest fetishists turning the pages. Do we understand it? No, not in the least. You can pass on Strip Tease Queen. Seriously.
