Acquired Tastes LXIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 12 - Pleasure Reader / Phase One

Acquired Tastes LXIII

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 12

Pleasure Reader / Phase One 

My goodness, these titles are getting a little long!

Today's imprint, Greenleaf Classic's Pleasure Reader, has an interesting history. In January of 1967, it began publishing hetero-oriented titles featuring the classic cover art of Ed Smith, Darrell Millsap, Robert Bonfils and Tomas Cannizarro and would continue to do so through May of 1969, producing 117 such titles. Then, in June of 1969, the imprint would drastically change course, exclusively publishing gay-oriented material until they closed up shop in February of 1973. 

During their years of producing gay-oriented titles, their cover art would shift focus four times. The initial 7 titles (an 8th being a cookbook related to Don Holliday's ever-popular C.A.M.P. series) came out in June and July of 1969 featuring traditional pulp fiction covers by Robert Bonfils and an unknown illustrator. However, with the publication of Larry Townsend's 2069 that August, the cover art changed dramatically, with the traditional artwork being jettisoned in favor of black and white, artistically done, nude male photographs. These, in turn, would be replaced by the black and white pencil drawings of Harry Bremer and Darrell Millsap, among others, starting in December of 1969. 

Pencil drawings, in various styles (realism to pop-art), would adorn the imprint's covers through March of 1972. Color would return in April of that year in the form of a lighter, airier, 'prettier' style of artwork done by an unknown artist whose style would later be aped by Robert Bonfils. A final shift in style would take place in January of 1973 with the book's title appearing in a square block of red and would continue so, until the imprint's demise in February of 1973,

All in all, Pleasure Reader would produce an impressive 180 gay-oriented titles. 

For today's post, we will limit our scope to those initial seven titles featuring the more traditional cover art. If you've been reading these posts, several of the authors are names you will be familiar with.

Let's take a look and have a little fun at their expense, shall we?

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We've looked at the works of Chis Davidson (Christian Davies) in previous posts. Reacquaint yourself: Here, here, here and here.

Song of Alexander

Author: Chris Davidson

Cover Art: Robert Bonfils

"He was the warrior queen of the world!"

Warrior queen? When I read that I assumed this had something to do with Patty Smyth (see video). But, no... wrong era. Instead we have the true story of Alexander the Great. Ah, at last, a historically accurate gay romance novel, complete with a g-string made of gold! No doubting who the 'conqueror' is in this scenario. But which one is Alexander? I guess someone brought all his gear to the bedroom. Don't you hate that? I mean, there is such a thing as too many props.

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You may remember Marcus Miller (Len Harrington, Alan Fair) from here, here, here, and here. This is the novel that is noted for capturing a bit of the anger and angst that led to The Stonewall Riots.

Gay Revolution

Author: Marcus Miller

Cover Art: Robert Bonfils

"They found the key to peace: LOVE THY BROTHER!"

Oh, dear. This cover is causing me to have flashbacks to the first time I stumbled upon the prairie back in the eighties. I remember I was just an innocent slip of a thing, making my way through the woods. I had no idea such places existed. In a way, it's like I was Dorothy in Oz. There's a naked scarecrow. And check out the woodsman! Oh my, a lion. A tiger. A bear. And their all... bare! Next thing I knew, my pants were down to my ankles and my throat stuffed with more dick than Mariah Carey in the dugout at Yankee Stadium. It was all I could do to tear myself away... I mean, escape! Sigh. Yeah. Good times. Good times.

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If the name Aaron Thomas seems familiar, that's because you've seen his stuff, here, here, and here.

Lavender Deep

Author: Aaron Thomas

Cover Art: Unknown

"Gavin's valley of dolls was tinted..."

Hmm, something tells me Gavin's valley is more tainted than tinted. Just look at that bleach blonde hussy, exposing her gape on the beach, offering it up to the next man-purse wielding trick unfortunate enough to come 'round those rocks! Waitaminute! Is this that beach on the south side of The Golden Gate Bridge? I bet it is! You know, last time I was in San Fran I meant to check it out. Some of my favorite X-tube porn has been filmed on that beach. But, ummm... I got busy with... umm... 'meatings'. Oh, so many 'meatings'. And if I wasn't busy attending a 'meating', I was 'tied up' in a semen-ar! Hee, hee. (See what I did there?)

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This is part of the aftermath of The Man from C.A.M.P. Series. Don Holliday (Victor J. Banis) ended that series after nine novels, but the franchise was so established and successful that spin-off projects, like this cookbook, kept the brand alive. The others included a gay self-help book and one on astrology.

The C.A.M.P. Cookbook

Author: Lady Agatha in conspiracy with Don Holliday

Cover Art: Robert Bonfils

I can't imagine what kind of recipes would be in a gay cookbook. Lots of 'hot dishes' with cream of mushroom? Detailed instructions on stuffing a man muffin? How to flog a sausage? Slapping salami?  How to properly toss a salad? Inserting a hot dog into a dutch oven? Glazing a rump roast? Frosting cupcakes? 69 uses for creme fraiche? Proper ways to pull taffy?  How to know when your meat is in need of a good basting? Well, something tells me most of the recipes will involve 100% Grade A Beef without a single trip to the fish market needed. (Leave your favorite food/sex metaphor in the comments section. Please!)

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Here's another from Chis Davidson (Christian Davies). Here, here, here and here.

Queen of Egypt

Author: Chris Davidson

Cover Art: Robert Bonfils

"He worshiped the sun... and adored the boys!"

Another era, another continent, same old gold g-string. Though this one looks like it got attacked by a bedazzler. Check out the fluffy white shag rug that queen is reclining on!  And everybody knows blue eye shadow is a no-no when wearing a gold falcon headdress! Well, things aren't all bad. It appears her houseboy has a real foot fetish! Or maybe he's just painting her toenails. Know what? This whole scene seems vaguely familiar. Ah, yes... I know!  At the Casa du Borghese?  They call this 'Tuesday'. 

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Barry Lamarr would write one additional title for the Pleasure Reader imprint: Gay Like Me. They are the only two credits I could find for this author.  Which, considering the tagline on this one? Seems a damn shame!

For Love of Lavender

Author: Barry Lamarr

Cover Art: Unknown

"Mother, mother, howcum all the boys call me 'Thweetie'?"

Oh - my - goodness. Where to begin?  Please tell me this one ends with 'Thweetie' rockin' away in a rocking chair in the cellar, clutching his mother's pearls while wearing her best gown and a crazy-ass fright wig! Oh, I love me some dated psycho-mama-drama! Do you think 'mother' encourages 'thweetie' because all she ever really wanted was a girl? Or because she's so possessive she can't allow another woman to come and steal him (because that's what happened with Daddy)? And where is 'Daddy'? Do you think his body is rotting with the apples in the backroom of the stable? 

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Patrick Doyle has 16 titles in the genre to his credit, many of them written for the Pleasure Reader and Gay Novel imprints.

First Sentence: “Christopher Mallory sat at his desk, gazing with dismay at the mass of paper work that had to be waded through before he could get down to the real essentials of his job.”

Last Sentence: “'California, here we come, the two of us.'”

The Staff

Author: Patrick Doyle

Cover Art: Robert Bonfils

"Mallory was a man of many gay talents!"

The 'staff'. Get it? Heh heh. Get it? Sigh. And what exactly is a 'gay' talent? Interior decorating? Flower arrangement? Making a kick ass gown out of a shower curtain? Sucking the chrome off a fender? Well, whatever spa/gym these queens are hanging at, looks like they are about to 'receive' some 'top' notch service. Fuckers better know how to tip. Me? I used to hang out in the locker room at my gym for hours offering similar services... the only thing I ever got was crabs!

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This is the only title credited to Dan Porter (Gil Porter). Gil Porter is credited with writing the hetero swap novel, Coupled and The Man Who Mastered Women for Brandon Books. 

Ship of Queens

Author: Dan Porter

Cover Art: Robert Bonfils

"The gayest crew in World War II!"

World War II? Do... you think... Robert Bonfils ever opened a history book? This? This looks more akin to what happened during the Bay of Pigs, when JFK called up Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly to take a fishing boat, a boatload of gym bunnies wearing thongs, and a cargo hold of poppers to Cuba to persuade Castro that communism was a bad idea. Yeah... it happened. It's just been scrubbed from the history books... like a whole lotta other things the red states don't want their children a learnin'. You know, like reading. And writing. And math. (Math is hard!).

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That's it for Phase One in Pleasure Reader's evolution. We'll be covering the others soon. Did you like what you see? Did I get something wrong? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

The Warrior - Scandal feat. Patty Smyth

(This is one of the worst videos of all time. I just adore it. And I imagine Mel Gibson saw this and came up with Braveheart.)