LITTLE SHOPPER OF HORRORS

I swear to God, bitch, you better tell me where you bought those pearls or I’ll claw that smug look right off your head.

Above, the cover of Shelly Lowenkopf’s The Love of the Lion from Kozy Books. No artist info on this, which is typical for Kozy. Lowenkopf, who is male, went on to teach at the University of Southern California, win a Lifetime Achievement Award, become an agent, editorial director, book reviewer, critic, and essayist. He’s still active and maintains a blog that’s worth visiting. Of his Kozy days he says merely that, “under a variety of pseudonyms, I paid many a rent tab.” No pseudonym for this one though. The Love of the Lion was published in 1962. 

And with two balls he goes way inside with his split finger.

In honor of the World Series and all the unintentionally sexual terminology you hear on sports broadcasts—and he manages to squirt that one up the middle!—we thought we’d share this cover for Kozy Books’ sleaze novel Squeeze Play. It was written by Walter Feldspar, whose name is a pseudonym of course, but we don’t know who occupied it. Orrie Hitt is a prime suspect though. Whoever it was, we have to give credit for cleverness—feldspar is a mineral that has no value but makes up the majority of earthly rock. He’s doubtless saying the same about his fiction—no value, but can be found everywhere.

Given enough time anything can accumulate value, though, and such is the case with ’60s sleaze fiction. Kozy output seems more popular all the time, so in acknowledgment of that fact we have a selection of their covers below. You would not necessarily call these pieces completely successful, with their often unreadable yellow-on-white or orange-on-orange text, but in terms of promoting the product the covers told you exactly what you were going to get. The company had a habit of not crediting art, so we’ve nothing for you there. But enjoy the selection anyway, and if you want to see a real Kozy winner, check here.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1994—White House Hit by Airplane

Frank Eugene Corder tries to crash a stolen Cessna 150 into the White House, but strikes the lawn before skidding into the building. The incident causes minor damage to the White House, but the plane is totaled and Corder is killed.

1973—Allende Ousted in Chile

With the help of the CIA, General Augusto Pinochet topples democratically elected President Salvador Allende in Chile. Pinochet’s regime serves as a testing ground for Chicago School of Economics radical pro-business policies that later are applied to other countries, including the United States.

2001—New York and Washington D.C. Attacked

The attacks that would become known as 9-11 take place in the United States. Airplane hijackings lead to catastrophic crashes resulting in the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York City, the destruction of a portion of The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a passenger airliner crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Approximately 36% of Americans doubt the official 9-11 story.

1935—Huey Long Assassinated

Governor of Louisiana Huey Long, one of the few truly leftist politicians in American history, is shot by Carl Austin Weiss in Baton Rouge. Long dies after two days in the hospital.

1956—Elvis Shakes Up Ed Sullivan

Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, performing his hit song “Don’t Be Cruel.” Ironically, a car accident prevented Sullivan from being present that night, and the show was guest-hosted by British actor Charles Laughton.

This awesome cover art is by Tommy Shoemaker, a new talent to us, but not to more experienced paperback illustration aficionados.
Ten covers from the popular French thriller series Les aventures de Zodiaque.
Sam Peffer cover art for Jonathan Latimer's Solomon's Vineyard, originally published in 1941.

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