Secondhand Smut #3

Back in April 2014, I announced the closure of the Secondhand Smut column. But the truth is, you just can’t end bad habits. Believe me, I know because I’ve been chain-smoking for the past 16 years.

Now, I had plans for the third installment to cover my findings from May, June, and July 2014, but I simply couldn’t find anything worthy to include here. This changed on September 2014, when my friend Periklis took me to a flea market I wasn’t aware of. This was the kind of place I needed; one of the first things I noticed was a DVD of Hot Asian Girls next to the bible. I bought neither, but you get the point. The beast was unleashed.

3 pulp books I bought for only 2€

Carnal Marriage

Oh, I just love how this book smells like old pulp shit. This smell reminds me of seedy basements full of porn books that grandfathers used to read while grandmothers were unaware watching television. More than 20 years ago, I broke into such a basement and found a box full of Gérard de Villiers books.

Anyway, the back cover of Carnal Marriage lists some other books by the same publisher (Βιβλιοθήκη για Όλους – Library for All), and those include the works of Nietzsche, Frued, etc. Also, the first page tells us that the publisher faced charges for this book, but those were dropped.

So, who is Nicolas Segur, the author Carnal Marriage? Wikipedia told me that he was Νικόλαος Επισκοπόπουλος (Nikolaos Episkopoulos), a Greek critic, who moved to France and wrote several popular novels under this pseudonym.

Carnal Marriage is the literal translation from the Greek title, Σαρκικός Γάμος, but several clues tell me that this work was translated from a French edition (which was probably the text’s original language). I am unaware of the original French title as this is not provided in the copy I have, and Google didn’t help, so if you have any more information than I do, please share.

Essentially, Carnal Marriage is a short story (less than 50 pages long) about a guy who very early in the text sees his wife cheating on him. He then follows the advice of his best friend and he goes wild too sleeping with several women. Then she gets ill and they fall in love again.

Then there’s the second (and longest) story in the book, entitled The Big Game (Το Μεγάλο Παιχνίδι), which was written by a different writer, but I could not find any information about him, so the name mentioned could very well be a pseudonym. The story is set in Paris, and I presume that the original text was in French. It is about cuckoldry, prostitution, homosexuality,

transvestism, and pedophilia. The whole thing is made of endless dialogues and it is utterly boring.

Wanton Women

This is another Βιβλιοθήκη για Όλους (Library for All) release, and again, the first page tells us that the publisher faced charges for this book, but those were dropped.

The first story (is short and) is called Wanton Women and it is about a journalist who reveals the sexual adventures that he had whilst travelling around the world.

The second story (is long and) is called A Blonde in Mexico. I presume that they were both written by Louis-Charles Royer, who was prolific French pulp book author.

I’m thinking that if a nuclear war ever destroys earth, the only things that will survive will be insects and pulp books. I mean, there seems to be so many of them!

I must admit that I don’t know much about the history of pulp books; I’m new at the game, so I mainly buy based on the outrageous covers. I try to read about the subject as much as I can, so if you have any sources to suggest please do so.

Women of Lust

The publisher listed here is Ρεαλιστικών Έργων (Realistic Work) but many clues tell me that this was the same publishing house as the one for the titles reviewed above. The Greek title (Γυναίκες του Έρωτα) would be literally translated as “Women of Love”, but the word Έρωτας comes with many meanings, so the liberal translation of “Women of Lust” is more appropriate.

The first story, Women of Lust (written by Louis-Charles Royer), is about a Parisian journalist who tells of his adventure in the French province. He, along with other journalists and policemen, are investigating the rape and the death of a young girl. The locals tell of other similar stories from the past, and the writer uses the word ‘stimulating’ to describe these confessions!

Then a girl tells of how she was molested when she was younger, and the journalist thinks that ‘at least’ the punk was the first to notice her body. Then he refers to the atrocity under investigation as “crime” in brackets! And if that’s not enough he sleeps with a couple of local young girls. Yes, they don’t come any creepier than that!

The second story, A Blonde in Rio (written by Ζαν Φάμπρις, but his name is not mentioned in the cover).

A comic book I bought for only 1€

Orribile #78: Κάποια Μέρα… (Horrible #78: Some Day…)

How could such an awesome cover exist in a comic book from 1983? Why Photoshop Designers don’t/can’t make stuff like this? Why publishers don’t make their releases like this anymore? This is issue #78 from the Orribile series that were part of the Εικονογραφημένα Πονηρά Βιβλία (Illustrated Naughty Books) banner.

This issue is about a truck driver named Erik, who meets an orphan blind girl who is a virgin, and after becoming her lover and gaining her trust, he turns her into a prostitute (he brings men to do her, and she supposedly can’t tell that it’s not him). The poor girl has a special connection with a fly [and this was before Phenomena

(1985)] which will help her in the unexpected finale that includes some very welcome splatter. No illustrator and no author are mentioned, but some clues make me almost certain that this was originally written in German.

A book I bought for only 0.50€

Swing Brother Swing

Looking for my fix of pulp fiction I came across this book. The copy I have may be in worn out condition paperback, but the content is quality stuff. It is known to U.S. readers under the title A Wreath for Rivera and it was written by female author Ngaio Marsh.

A book I bought for 2.00€

Το Μεροκάματο του Τρόμου

This awesome cover (by A. Horowitz) made me think that I would buy some genuine bad quality pulp. But I was wrong, as when I showed this book to my friend Ilias he told me that what the back cover says about the story being turned into an award winning film was actually true. Yes, I’m talking about author Georges Arnaud and his novel that got adapted for the big screen in the form of Le salaire de la peur (1953).

3 pulp books I bought for only 5€

Οι Κούκλες του Χόλλυγουντ

Mr. Scott is a womanizer detective investigating a Hollywood blackmail case in which an artist is using nude pictures and paintings of famous movie stars. Of course the detective will find the time to have his way with some of the victims.

This is the Greek 1972 edition of the 1963 Richard S. Prather’s Bodies in Bedlam book, and it turned out to be the most noir-style reading I did in a while.

Οι Νεκροί δεν Μιλούν

This is a Greek pulp edition of a Brett Halliday novel, but I couldn’t identify the original title as I’m not very knowledgeable on the subject. I enjoyed it very much though and read it in one go. Michael Shayne is investigating a couple of murders that may or may not be related.

Μία Κάψουλα Γεμάτη Θάνατο

This is a Greek pulp edition of Mickey Spillane’s Return of the Hood novel. A misfit is the main suspect of the murder of a mob guy, and he has to deal with the lowest of the low, including drug addicts and corrupted police. I enjoyed the noir-style writing very much.

A book I bought for only 1€

Διηγήματα Τρόμου

This anthology was put together by Γιώργος Μπαλάνος and it is a collection of short horror stories from a variety of quality writers. It’s the biggest book in this column, and the most serious one.

Postscript:

In the words of Motley Crue: “All Bad Things Must End”. I got incredibly busy again and I won’t be buying stuff for a while, so Secondhand Smut must stop. After all, I find it more creative to be writing the Interracial Sex Havoc column. But, who knows? Maybe one day the urge will knock on my door again and force me to start digging again!