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Sin-A-Rama: Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties
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Sin-A-Rama front cover
Edited by Brittany A. Daley, Hedi El Kholti, Earl Kemp, Miriam Linna, and Adam Parfrey
Published in 2005 by Feral House
Subtitled “Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties,” the bulk of the coverage in Sin-A-Rama is concerned with the sex paperbacks published in the early to mid-1960s, before the relaxation of obscenity laws.
The first section consists essays by and about many of the people responsible for creating the sex paperback industry. Highlights of this section include Robert Silverberg’s “My Life as a Pornographer”, Stephen Gertz’s “West Coast Blue”, and Brittany Daley’s “The Lost Artists.” Unfortunately, the essays are scattershot and fail to construct a clear narrative.
The second section consists of cover galleries divided into various themes. The covers are wonderfully reproduced in bright colors on bright paper.
The final section of the book is a bibliography of publishers including their active years, cover artists, authors, and sample titles. There is also a listing of various authors and their pseudonyms. Despite its short length, this section is the jewel of the book for paperback collectors.
As a devoted fan of sex paperbacks from the 60s, I had high expectations for Sin-A-Rama. While I was disappointed with the first section’s lack of cohesiveness, the cover galleries and reference materials in the back make this book an indispensible reference that I will consult for years to come.
Sex and the Armed Services
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Sex and the Armed Services front cover
By L. T. Woodward, M.D.
Published in 1963 by Monarch Books
L. T. Woodward is a pseudonym for the prolific science fiction author Robert Silverberg who apparently has quite a devoted following in his chosen genre.
Another in the long line of fictional psychiatric studies presented as legitimate case histories,
Sex and the Armed Services is an entertaining example of a sex pulp published before the Vietnam War and sexual revolution. While the descriptions of sex are fairly vivid, they avoid being lurid.
The book is divided into fairly predictable chapters that mirror the stereotypes of its time. For instance, the chapter devoted to homosexuals claims that gay soldiers actively recruit naïve young men into homosexuality. Female soldiers are described as either nymphomaniacs, frigid, or lesbians. There is also much discussion of overseas romance, prostitution, and extramarital affairs.
Most of the stereotypes seem quaint today. However, there are a few that are particularly shocking when read today. Most striking was the case of the rape victim Rosalie. Rosalie is described as a tease who wanted to remain a virgin until marriage. Because of reputation as a tease, her rapist was given a suspended sentence while Rosalie was discharged as being unfit. If that bit of blaming the victim wasn’t surprising enough, a “psychiatrist” reviewing the case made this observation sure to rile victim advocates everywhere:
“…I’d say the best that could have happened to this girl is what Daniels (the rapist) did to her. Maybe he smashed up the complex of neuroses centering about her virginity, and left her free to live a normal life.”
Overall, this is a fairly entertaining, if un-titillating read.
Whip Worship
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Whip Worship front cover
by Cliff Barrett, Ph.D.
Published in 1972 by Impact Library
The attention grabbing cover blurbs promises insight into a world of women who “live and love by whip and pain and twisted torture” and “…females who attain amazing summit fulfillment by painful agony aberrations.” Unfortunately, Whip Worship reads more like a series of random stories thrown together willy-nilly instead of a cohesive narrative of any form.
The first scene of the book is a rather standard case history of two teenage sisters. (Well, the tale they tell of turning tricks while hitchhiking isn’t exactly standard but the “case study” format of the concerned psychologist is.)
Next, we are then treated to a first person account of a group of soldiers enjoying the spoils of war. Even though the gangbang triple penetration described therein is arousing, the abrupt shift in writing styles is abrupt so much so that it proves distracting.
There’s little need to describe the rest of the scenes – they vacillate from tired third person narratives of sadistic prostitution rings to the confession of a depraved bisexual masochist – the sort of girl that fantasies are made of – to an upper class masochistic man who enjoys the charms of street urchins of both sexes. It’s the last vignette I mentioned that serves both as a crescendo of depravity and the books’ highlight. Despite the fact that it wasn’t at all arousing to me sexually, the vivid descriptions of enjoying cunnilingus with a VD sufferer and the glass table show made me feel a little morally superior. No matter how twisted or demented my fantasies might become, I can take solace in the fact that I haven’t sunk quite as low as Mr. Upper Crust.
In sum, this is a mess of a book. Readers who enjoy their smut straight, predictable, and internally consistent should stay away. However, sick fucks like me will find themselves happy.
The Submissive Female
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The Submissive Female front cover
by Anthony Parr, Ph. D.
Published in 1971 by The Dolphin Press
Reading this book left me with one unanswerable question: why are Danes so hairy? Don’t get me wrong, I like some hair down there. In fact, it creeps me out when there isn’t hair down there. The desire for hairlessness seems like the purview child molesters. Creepy.
I don’t know why, but I frankly never imagined the Danish as hirsute. Part of me is curious to search the internet for modern Danish porn to see if Danish women have discovered the necessity of pubic grooming. But the other part of me is scared nothing’s changed, so I’ll continue in blissful ignorance.
The hairy sex pictures were really the highlight of the Submissive Female. In this book, Parr sets out to trace the lowly social status of women throughout history. He begins with conjecturing about the status of females in pre-history assuming they were only valued for their ability to bring males pleasure. Subsequent chapters focus on the status of women in Greek and Roman societies, 17th century England, Russia, and France.
As he traces through these societies, Parr often focuses on women of high status and relates how they cruelly treat their slaves and servants. He credits this behavior to their identification with their own abusers, but shows no evidence to back up this claim.
There really isn’t much to recommend here. There are a few titillating passages which merit some interest. Unfortunately, I can’t help but think the original stories which Parr cites are vastly more entertaining and informative than his presentation of them.
A Switch Hitter Follows the Ads: A Sex Odyssey
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A Switch Hitter Follows the Ads: A Sex Odyssey front cover
by Jill Baker Boyle
Published in 1969 by Ram Classics
This book is the “autobiographical” account of Jill’s travels across the U.S. as she meets men and women that she has met through adult personal ads.
As our tale begins, Jill is home in Los Angeles with her husband, Lance, and her lesbian lover, Elise, preparing to bid them adieu as she departs in her van for a year of carnal adventures. After a goodbye evening of “triple loving,” Jill discovers her lovers have a surprise for her going away present: a painter has added “Hi-Ways and Bi-Ways” to the back of her customized van.
Jill’s first stop on her adventure is a meeting with a shy young lesbian, Joan, who lives a mere ten miles away. Inside Hi-Ways and Bi-Ways, Jill introduces Joan to the joys of lesbianism while parked outside the Laundromat. Before Jill departs, she plays matchmaker for Joan and her landlord.
Pressing forward on her journey, Jill travels to San Francisco to meet Mark. After a few days of shared passion and a night of drunkenness, Jill and Mark make their way to meet with Mark’s old girlfriend, Cora. Mark and Cora’s earlier romance ended because Mark was a high class boy and Cora was a girl born on the wrong side of the tracks. I won’t spoil the action for you, but this tryst contains the book’s best line “Take off that cheap nightie, baby, and let me see those tits of yours.”
Jill’s heads to Denver to meet a young married couple, Kansas City to meet a frumpy librarian with an interest in dildos, on to Chicago to meet with a transvestite named Robert, and finally to Indiana to meet yet another shy young lesbian, Lois.
We learn that Lois lives on a farm with her brother, Tom, and his wife, Wilma. Tom turns out to be an abusive drunk and Wilma is the object of Lois’ desires. Eventually, all four of them have an encounter on the farm which culminates in the best visual scene in the book. I can only describe it thus: garden hose enema.
When Jill tires of fun and frolic at the farm, she and Lois head to New York, the last stop in Jill’s itinerary. Jill plans to attend a private sex party and the final scene really heats up. But I won’t spoil it for you, you’ll have to read A Switch Hitter Follows the Ads: A Sex Odyssey to see how it all ends.