Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Westlake in Sweden: Point Blank (1968)


It's 1968, and here's the same novel again except the original title is now Point Blank. Great, great movie, so no objections from me. Yes, Parker looks like Lee Marvin, that's just how it is. Published by Kometförlaget as #183 in the Komet series.

The text on the cover translates as "He's a lone wolf in the nether world. He is hated, feared, cold as ice. His name is Parker." Pretty much on the money.

The Komet series ran between (AFAIK) 1955 and 1981. Notable for trying to launch the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. Six titles were published in 1965-66, and then a of sudden - nothing. The McGee series somehow never caught on here, although MacDonald's non-series works kept on coming here and there.

The Komet series were also known - or maybe notorious, or then again legendary - for adding a porn appendix on pink paper to their books, starting in 1966 with raunchy cartoons by the likes of Pete Wyma, but eventually printing quite hardcore material occasionally.

You can see the legend "Med 6" in the upper right corner of this cover, and if I tell you that 6 is pronounced "sex" in Swedish and "med" means "with" I suppose you can figure out the rest. Ha ha bloody ha. In this particular instance, we are also treated to something entitled A Night in a Moorish Harem: The Tale of the Italian Girl by George Herbert. Which actually is some kind of "classical" porn from way back:

http://www.amazon.com/George-Herberts-Night-Moorish-Harem/dp/156163168X

To quote the introduction in this book: A Night in a Moorish Harem belongs to the classics among porn literature. The book tells the story of how the gentleman lands on the Moroccan coast and is found by nine sex mad concubines.

Wow, two classics in one volume.
[Hey, it's a classic alright, but I believe it was a faux. There never was a lord George Herbert and the book was only written for the fast shillings. As for Stöten, that lady sure is nice. As was Angie Dickinson, no question about that.]

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