Pulp Fiction Q: Which One?
Posted: December 3, 2016 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Adventure, Book Cover Art, Books, Crime fiction, design, Illustration, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller Leave a commentDetective World, November 1951 Issue
Posted: August 21, 2016 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment | Tags: Adventure, Cover Art, Crime fiction, graphics, Illustration, Magazines, Noir fiction, Pulp, Romance, Thriller, vintage Leave a commentPulp Fiction: ‘Triangle of Sin’
Posted: February 28, 2016 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Adventure, Books, Crime fiction, design, Illustration, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a comment‘Confessions Of A Chinatown Moll’
Posted: February 4, 2016 Filed under: Art & Culture, China, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Adventure, Books, Cover Art, Crime fiction, design, Illustration, Noir fiction, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a commentConfessions Of A Chinatown Moll
Source: pulpcovers
Master Detective: ‘Death Keeps an Assignation: The Blonde Playgirl’s Rendezvous’
Posted: December 29, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Crime fiction, design, Illustration, Magazines, Mystery, Nior Fiction, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a commentMaster Detective: ‘Undercover Man’
Posted: December 29, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Adventure, Cover Art, Crime fiction, design, Illustration, Magazines, Master Detective, Mystery, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a comment‘Bedtime Stories’ 25¢
Posted: December 12, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Adventure, design, Illustration, Magazines, Mystery, Nior Fiction, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a commentPulp Cover: ‘Sailor’s Weekend’
Posted: November 12, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: Adventure, Book Cover, Crime fiction, design, Illustration, Mystery, novel, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller Leave a commentSource: Pulp Covers
Pulp Fiction: ‘Beloved Traitor’
Posted: October 28, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: 1950s, 1960s, Adventure, Crime fiction, design, Illustration, Mystery, novel, Paperback, Romance, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a comment1950 published as Lady, Toll That Bell
1960 republished with this new title
Pulp Fiction: ‘Night School’
Posted: October 25, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Adventure, Books, Crime fiction, Dell Books, design, Illustration, Mystery, novel, Paperback, Romance, Thriller, typography Leave a commentPulp Fiction: ‘The White Dress’, 1946
Posted: October 25, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: 1940s, Bantam, Bantam Books, Book Cover, Books, Crime fiction, design, Illustration, Mignon G. Eberhart, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Random House, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage 1 Comment1946 Random House hardcover, 1949 Bantam paperback reissue
Pulp Fiction Book Cover: ‘Love is the Winner’ (Who Wins His Love) by Natalie Shipman
Posted: September 29, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Adventure, Bantam Books, Books, design, Illustration, Mystery, novel, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a commentSource: salmongutter
Alfred Hitchcock: ‘The Birds’, 1963
Posted: September 29, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, History | Tags: Academy Award, Actor, Alfred Hitchcock, Cinema, Horror, Jessica Tandy, Movies, Mystery, North by Northwest, Paris Hilton, Psycho (film), Rod Taylor, Romance, Suzanne Pleshette, The Birds (film), Thriller, Tippi Hedren, Vertigo Leave a commentA few nights ago, I watched Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds‘, for the first time in decades. I wonder why? I’ve seen restored versions of Psycho, Read Window, and Vertigo multiple times, but for some reason I’d missed re-watching this one. It was a pleasure to see again. And to see Tippi Hedren with fresh eyes.
I was surprised to discover a curious resemblance between actress Tippi Hedren, at age 33, and Paris Hilton, now 34. The resemblance is minor, but notable.
And I’m not the first to notice it. A brief Google search shows seekers asking if Tippi and Paris are related. (they are not) In the course of this, I also rediscovered that Tippi Hedren is the mother of actress Melanie Griffith. Born in 1957, Melanie Griffith recalls visiting the set during the filming of The Birds, in 1962, when she was a little girl.
I was also pleased to find that the earthy and vivacious brunette female co-star is Suzanne Pleshette, another detail I’d forgotten. She has features similar to Elizabeth Taylor, or a young Stockard Channing.
Notice, in the photo below, how the 33 year-old Hedren has similar features, or facial expression, to the 34-year old Paris Hilton. See a similarity? I think it’s there.
Since we all know the story, and suspense isn’t a factor, I was free to pay closer attention to Tippi Hedren‘s performance, and to the interpersonal drama between the main characters, played by Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, and Suzanne Pleshette.
What a strange, dark, pensive, Freudian, romantic-erotic narrative! Where much is left unsaid, but implied. Jealousy, loneliness, abandonment, flirtation, hostility, attraction, are all explored, but not resolved. I’ve always thought of Vertigo as being the most neurotic, sexually obsessed, repressed, fixated story in Hitchock’s canon, but I had underestimated the peculiar storyline of The Birds. Before the actual birds take over the story, there’s a lot of familial and romantic turbulence. And the cast is wonderful.
Tippi Hedren looks so elegant, mischievous, and glamorous, one can see why Hitchcock selected the untrained model, fixated on her, and elevated her to movie star. Much is written about Hitchock’s abusive, controlling personality, and troubles with female leads, no need to cover that here, Hedren was no exception. Leaving all that aside, it was a pleasure to simply marvel at how lovingly photographed the neophyte actress is, and how well-crafted the film is. The moody San Francisco and northern California seaside locations, the special effects, the sound design (no music, only bird sounds make up the film’s score) the cinematography…besides being one of the most famous horror movies of all time, it’s also a terrific early 1960s time-capsule. Next time you watch it? Forget about the birds, and follow the other elements of the story. Perhaps you’ll find it as rewarding as I did.
A Surging Novel of Passion and Ruin: ‘Satan Was A Man’, by Edward Hale Biestadt
Posted: July 14, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Books, Crime fiction, design, Illustration, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography Leave a commentSource:opiumdreamgirl
Pulp Cover: ‘Mammoth Mystery’ 25¢
Posted: April 28, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment | Tags: design, Fiction, graphics, Illustration, Magazine, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a commentVintage Paperback Book Cover: ‘A Novel of the Private World of Foreign Correspondents’
Posted: April 19, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment, The Butcher's Notebook | Tags: Advertising, Books, Crime fiction, design, Fiction, Illustration, Mystery, Paperback, Parody, pulp fiction, Romance, satire, Thriller, typography Leave a comment[VIDEO] Daniel’s Prom Proposal Does Not Go as Planned, Ends with Date in Tears
Posted: April 17, 2015 Filed under: Education, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Prom, Proposal, Romance, Teens, video, Weeping 1 CommentFrom Daniel’s YouTube description: Actual Promposal doesn’t start till 1:58
The order of the signs went “Alex. Will. You. Marry. LOL Jk. Go To. Prom. With Me.” And I had the question mark.
‘On With The Dance’ from Menace #2 (1953)
Posted: April 1, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment | Tags: Comics, design, Horror, Illustration, Lettering, Romance, Thriller, vintage Leave a commentHowell Dodd: True Fact Crime, 1953
Posted: March 26, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: Books, Cover Art, Crime fiction, design, Graphic design, Howell Dodd, Illustration, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, True Crime, True Fact Crime, typography, vintage Leave a commentTrue Fact Crime, June 1953; cover art by Howell Dodd.
Pulp Cover: ‘Youth Against Obscenity’
Posted: March 25, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere, Reading Room | Tags: Adventure, Books, design, Fantasy, Illustration, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage 1 Comment[VIDEO] Prank: Unsuspecting Bachelors Set Up On Blind Date With Attractive Woman Who Turns Out To Be Professional Stunt Driver
Posted: February 12, 2015 Filed under: Entertainment, Humor, Mediasphere | Tags: Advertising, Dating, Ford Motor Company, Ford Mustang, Manual transmission, media, Prank, Romance, Stunt Driver, Television 1 CommentFord pulled another commercial-turned-stunt by setting unsuspecting bachelors up on a blind date with an attractive woman, who also happened to be a professional stunt driver.
After chatting at a cafe, the couple take off in a new 2015 Ford Mustang and the woman lets the men know that she’s not very experienced at driving a manual transmission. Then, right when the first date banter reaches peak boredom, the driver dips off into an empty parking lot to take the dates for an unexpected thrill ride…(more)
Vintage Book Cover: The Smasher, 1959
Posted: February 10, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Reading Room | Tags: design, Double Novel Books, Illustration, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage 1 Comment1959 MacMillan hardcover
1960 Ace Double paperback reissue
Seattle Mystery Bookshop – pulpcovers
Pulp Fiction Cover Art: ‘Harlot in Her Heart’
Posted: January 19, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment | Tags: Books, design, Illustration, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a comment[PHOTO] Audrey Hepburn on the Set of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, 1961
Posted: November 20, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment | Tags: Audrey Hepburn, breakfast at tiffanys, Cinema, George Peppard, Holly Golightly, Hollywood, Movies, Photography, Romance, Truman Capote, vintage 2 CommentsVintage Paperback: W. Somerset Maugham’s ‘The Gentleman in the Parlour’
Posted: November 10, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Avon Books, Books, design, Illustration, novel, Paperback, Romance, The Gentleman in the Parlour, travel, typography, vintage, W. Somerset Maugham 3 Comments[Check out “The Gentleman in the Parlour“ at Amazon]
Best Known for his novels and plays, Somerset Maugham also produced the most delightfully engaging and absorbing non-fiction, of which The Gentleman In The Parlour is a prime example. First published in 1935 it is the account of a journey the author took form Rangoon to Haiphong.Whether by river to Mandalay, on horse through the mountains and forests of the Shan States to Bangkok, or onwards by sea, Maugham’s muse is in the spirit of Hazlitt, who wrote: ‘It is great to shake off the trammels of the world and public opinion…and become the creature of the moment and to be known by no other title than ‘The Gentleman in the Parlour‘.’
“There enough raw material to sate his imagination and the journey itself takes on the contours of a story worth recording. Among the coolly-observed descriptions of ruined pagodas there’s the added treat of Maugham’s catty thoughts on his craft” – Sunday Herald (Glasgow) Read the rest of this entry »
Pulp Cover: ‘Born for Sin’
Posted: November 7, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: design, Illustration, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage Leave a comment‘He Lived For Love And Was Well Paid For It’
Posted: October 22, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere, Reading Room | Tags: design, graphics, Illustration, Monarch Books, Mystery, Paperback, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage, Will Newbury Leave a commentAn American Wife on the Loose in France: ‘Secrets of Paris Nights’
Posted: October 17, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment, Mediasphere, Reading Room | Tags: Denise Marcelle, design, France, Illustration, Paris, pulp fiction, Romance, Thriller, typography, vintage 1 CommentHong Kong: Love in the Time of Protests
Posted: October 16, 2014 Filed under: Asia, China, Mediasphere | Tags: Beijing, Hong Kong, media, Occupy Central, Pan-democracy camp, Photography, Pro-Democracy, Protest, Romance, Twitter Leave a commentLove in the time of protests: http://t.co/tRG8POS7ad pic.twitter.com/cPQcHF4ncT
— WSJ China Real Time (@ChinaRealTime) October 16, 2014
Landesman: Why Are Right Wing Women So Hot? The Lust That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Posted: July 21, 2014 Filed under: Entertainment, Humor, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Cosmo Landesman, Feminism, Gertrude Stein, Imelda Marcos, Jemima Khan, Romance, Sarah Palin, Sex, Sexism, Spectator, The Left, the right, Theresa May, UK politics, Virginia Woolf, Yoko Ono 2 CommentsMy secret lust for right-wing women
“I envy men of the right — their sexual lives are not constrained by the rules of sexual correctness we lefties are expected to live by.”
For The Spectator.uk, Cosmo Landesman writes: Not long ago I was out drinking with a group of friends and we started playing the If-You-Had-To game. The idea is to present players with two people they would never want to sleep with — and then make them choose which they’d sleep with. Here are some of the fiendish alternatives I had to face: Imelda Marcos or Wallace Simpson? Ayn Rand or Yoko Ono? Gertrude Stein or Virginia Woolf?
“Sorry, comrades, but when it comes to the bedroom I’ll have to vote Tory.”
Then one joker said: Theresa May or Jemima Khan? Everyone laughed at this no-contest choice. Everyone except me. How could I tell them the ugly truth: I’d prefer a night of passion with right-wing Theresa over lefty Jemima any day of the week.
But then I belong to that small, deviant group of liberal-lefty-pro-feminist men who find conservative/right-wing women super sexy. In an age when anything goes — at least in terms of sexual pleasure — ours is a lust that dare not speak its name.
[On progressivism ruining sex: “Well, it ruins everything, you know” — Glenn Reynolds].
I know this because later that evening, I turned to one of the group and confessed my secret longing for the likes of Theresa May, Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin — ideally all at once. I thought my fantasy night of passion would be received with sympathy and understanding. After all, this friend of mine pays a woman in Earls Court to put him on a rack and do things you don’t want to read about. He just looked at me and said: ‘You’re sick!’ Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Un-Valentine Celebration: Everything Wrong With the Movie ‘The Notebook’
Posted: February 14, 2014 Filed under: Entertainment, Humor | Tags: Arts, Holidays, Movies, Notebook, Rachel McAdams, Romance, Valentine, Valentine Day, YouTube 1 CommentFrom The Daily Caller: If you are a single, white female who is planning to pop in your 2004 copy of “The Notebook” into your DVD player on Valentine’s Day night and go to town on some Pinot Grigio, just remember that “The Notebook” is terrible.
Read more here…

Objectivist Valentine
Posted: February 14, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Humor, Politics | Tags: Ayn Rand, Humor, Liberty, Objectivism, Romance 1 CommentMan Animates Joke About Tortilla Chips Told By His Drunk Wife
Posted: November 21, 2013 Filed under: Entertainment, Food & Drink, Humor, Mediasphere | Tags: Corn tortilla, Humor, Humour, Joke, Recreation, Romance, Tortilla, Tortilla chip, United States Leave a commentThe Cajun Boy writes: …I’m pretty sure I have discovered the definitive standard measurement for love, and it is this: 1) recording your drunk-on-wine significant other drunkenly tell a corny joke and 2) cleverly animating that joke for all the world to see and hear on the internet. If you are not willing to do these things for someone — just as Adam Patch did — well, you just don’t love them. That is all.
Best boyfriend ever turns himself into a chair for tired girlfriend
Posted: October 8, 2013 Filed under: Asia, China, Entertainment, Humor | Tags: Boyfriend, China, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Mobile phone, Romance, Train Station 1 CommentWhile I’m sure this photo, taken on a Guangzhou metro platform, will elicit cries of ‘whipped’ or ‘friend zone’, I’m choosing to view this as a sweet demonstration of one guy’s love for his girlfriend, who was clearly super tired and… needed to check her phone.
Shanghaiist [via: Netease, China Smack]