First Draft

Today’s entry continues our medical theme. I think he’s a doctor feelgood but who am I to judge?

I usually avoid posting “bodice ripping” romance novel covers. The one on the left, however, has a ripping good tagline: “A saucy wench defies her king for love.” Red sauce or white?

Was Prince Charming aware that Cinderella was in trouble? Probably not. The dude was clueless.

I’m a John D. MacDonald fan but I haven’t read this book. I suspect that the British paperback on the right is more accurate in its depiction of the story.

I have a rather disturbing earworm:

I never expected to post a Disney Princess video in this feature but you never can tell.

Richard Bachman was Steven King’s pseudonym when he was an overly prolific young writer. It was all the rage:

The title of this 1961 sci-fi potboiler speaks for itself: it’s about mutated rodents. Bron Fane, however, is a pseudonym for Lionel Fanthorpe. It’s also an anagram for Boner Fan, which may or may not be an accident.

This is another one of those “I found this while searching for something else” PFT entries. The second cover is intriguing. Is it telling readers that this is a good book to read at the beach? There’s nary a yellow room in sight.

This book only sounds ripped from the headlines, it was published in 1955.

To lighten things up, the last word goes to Ella Fitzgerald with Manhattan by Rodgers and Hart:

I’ve been keeping it light this week because we’re all in need of comic relief. This feature is uniquely suited to black humor, which is useful in times like these. If we can laugh at our deepest fears, we have a better chance to survive them; at least I hope so.

On to this week’s book cover. As far as I know, none of the 3-dozen Shell Scott books were ever filmed. It’s a pity: Leslie Nielsen would have been perfect casting.

This week’s selection is the tale of a missionary and a Voodoo houngan:

The last word goes to the Neville Brothers doing that Voodoo that they do so well:

I can’t remember if I first read The Plague in high school or college.But I recall the profound impact it had it on me. It’s a powerful book that, according to a French speaking friend, is one of the best French to English translations ever. It’s certainly timely in the age of COVID-19.

There are many swell covers to choose from. We begin with the original hardback dust jackets.

I had to include the paperback cover on the left. It was the edition I read. It may be time to revisit it.

This 1961 novel continues this week’s theme; only without the exclamation point. Things are bad enough without using one.

Bruce Graeme was of one several pen names used by Graham Montague Jeffries. He was best known for the Blackshirt series for which he used the name Richard Verill. None of those covers has the impact of this 1955 book. The title is pretty darn cool as well.

We have side-by-side covers of a 1956 sci-fi tome by Jerry Sohl. The second cover is from an Australian edition of the book.

This week’s punny title is creepy but accurate. For your consideration, four titles with the word corpse in them. These book covers date from the mid-1940’s.

What’s not to love about the title Space Lawyer? Here’s the original dust cover:

Alternate title: A Babe, an Alien and a Space Pirate.