Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 51 - P.E.C. French Line Books

Acquired Tastes XLIII: 

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 51 

PEC French Line Books

Today, we take a look at PEC (Publishers Export Company) French Line books. Very little is known about the company, which is amazing considering its output and the quality of its offerings. However, censorship laws at the time made secrecy a necessary component when publishing books of this nature; only the most brazen operators left a paper trail. Operating out of San Diego, CA, the French Line books were published from 1966-1971, though the company itself was active, publishing several imprints starting in (at least) 1965. 

The other imprints include an N and a G series, a Classics series, and the HES (Human Experience Series) books, most of which pre-date the French Line books by a year. The G numbered series consisted of a smaller, digest-sized format and were published simultaneously in 1966 along with their regular N series titles. The French Line series, based on what I could find, encompasses 101 titles (one of which was a reissue of a previous title in the series), and ends in 1971 (as, apparently, did the company). 

One of the aspects that distinguish French Line books is the quality of their cover art, which went through four distinct periods. Also of note, their stable of writers which included Carl Corley, Len Harrington, Vin Saxon/Jay Horn (Ron Haydock), Ed Wood, Jr. and Eve Linkletter. 

Up until their first change in the direction of their cover art, all books featured the tagline, "The Finest In Adult Reading." The titles shared today were published before the imprint employed the distinctive Eiffel Tower logo, which would appear, in some form, on all the titles published after these.

While the bulk of the titles published under the French Line imprint are gay male-oriented, there are a number of lesbian titles sprinkled in the mix, and a few hetero-oriented ones. I've included those titles here, as well, in order to present as complete a picture as possible. 

I did my best to track down what covers I could. Unfortunately, there are holes in the company's history - either numbers skipped or titles lost to history, for, despite their numbering system, I was unable to identify the title of several of their (probable) offerings.

Let's take a look at the first twelve.

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My Purple Winter

Author: Carl Corley

Cover Art: Carl Corley

PEC FL-1

Carl Corley was integral to the initial success of PEC's French Line imprint. This is the first of 13 novels he would write for them. A talented illustrator, he also provided cover art for, not only his own works, but those written by others.

My Purple Winter would prove to be PEC's most popular title, spurring the company to republish it twice: first, with a new cover and secondly, as part of a trilogy/anthology for their Classic imprint.

From carlcorley.com:
Carl Corley was born in Mississippi in 1919, fought at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima during World War II, and spent the following forty years as an engineering artist for the Mississippi and Louisiana Departments of Transportation. But while he was drawing maps and illustrating scenes of Louisiana folklife, he was also writing dozens of semi-autobiographical gay pulp novels, painting most of their covers himself, and publishing them under his own name through major pulp companies of the late 1960s. In the 1970s and after, he devoted himself to newspaper comic strips about local history and religious topics, while also writing and drawing extensive gay-themed science-fiction comics.

From blogs.library.duke.edu/rubenstein 

Corley’s books probably suffered some editorial intervention in the form of tacked-on sad endings, and many of his books contain the usual references to being led astray into a world of homosexual torment. Usually no such event actually happens in the story and overt pro-gay statements substantially outweigh these occasional twilight references. 

Corley did not shy away from gay-bashing and violence in his plots, but frequently indulged in editorializing on behalf of his characters, explaining that discrimination was the root cause of any perceived misery in gay life. The conclusion of Corley’s highly autobiographical first novel, A Chosen World (1966), is entirely given to this sort of advocacy. Scholars generally assume that readers were savvy enough to simply ignore added moralizing, and thus embrace Corley’s work as empowering.

Corley’s main contribution to the body of gay literature was his rural perspective. He was known for “specializ(ing) in romantic stories about boys from the country,” and his plots show a complex relationship between the country and the city.

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 Return to Lesbos 

Author: Ann Toward

Cover Art: Doug Weaver

PEC FL-2

 

From the back cover:

"She was unusually young for a high school principal…but Lori’s entire life was unusual. The step-daughter of a famous motion picture star and an heiress, she was tortured by desire for her own sex."

Just one question... Who wears heels that sharp in bed?

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The Scarlet Lantern

Author: Carl Corley

Cover Art: Carl Corley

PEC FL-3

Another by Carl Corley. 1966 was a very prolific year for him, but then he tended to write a lot. In fact, in addition to the books he he managed to get published (he worked with several publishing companies), he had a number of novels that never made it to print. This is also true of a number of his cover designs; below, an alternative cover considered for this novel...

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Lesbian Jungle

Author: Vicki Evans

Cover Art: Doug Weaver

PEC FL-4

This is one of my favorite covers in the series. Lesbian Jungle was published in 1966, yet the artwork, based on the fashions, place it in an entirely different era. I adore the strangely muted colors. Rich with subtext, it is as complex and idealized a scene as any illustration done by Tom of Finland.

From the back cover:

"I don't know why, but all the girls I've had in my life, Renna has always been different... special... but I'm afraid things will never be the same between us. I'm a full-fledged butch, now, and I feel, at times, that it repels her."

"You haven't been using Don Juan on her again, have you, Claudette?"

"No! I put it away. I never should have tried that with her but I was kind of drink and, I guess I lost my head. She's so damned feminine and desirable. A real woman - every inch of her..."

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Whisper of Silk

Author: Vin Saxon

PEC FL-5

Vin Saxon is one of the pseudonyms belonging to Ron Haydock. Haydock did it all: he was a writer, a screen writer, a b-movie actor, and the lead singer of a rock 'n roll band (Ron Haydock & the Boppers). This isn't his only credit for PEC Books, so we'll be taking a more in depth look at his life and career later in this series of posts. 

Whisper Of Silk, of course, has to do with a mans love for girly undergarments. Such a subtle cover for such a torrid subject. It begs more questions than it answers, doesn't it?

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Unidentified

PEC FL-6

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Sex Salon

Author: Julie Rowe

PEC FL-7

Another cover of another lesbian themed novel with cover art which looks like it's from another era. So stark! I think its the odd perspective of the table that throws me the most. This cover: strangely striking and all sorts of wrong at the same time.

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Unidentified

PEC FL-8

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A Fool's Advice

Author: Carl Corley

Cover Art: Carl Corley

PEC FL-9

"A pagan of the wilds trapped by civilization."

Yet another Carl Corley. Twenty-one of his gay pulp fiction novels are available as HTMLFlip books at carlcorley.com and I look forward to reading them soon. The bits of his work that I have read? He's quite articulate and takes his writing very seriously - in other words, not your run of the mill gay pulp novel writer at all. He has a very soothing voice, beguiling. I plan on writing a review on at least one of his books by the end of this series of posts on PEC books.

Run Lez, Run

Author: Dave King

PEC FL-10

I can't help but question a lesbian themed novel written by a man. It has to do with the intent of the writer. Is it sensationalism? A form of misogynism/sexism? Or merely the case of a perv getting off? I can't imagine it having any integrity, authenticity or being a story told genuinely.  

Fallen Eagle

Author: Carl Corley

Cover Art: Carl Corley

PEC FL-11

Another Corley. And this one? It also has an alternative cover that never saw the light of day. 

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Scars Of Lust

Author: James Harvey

Cover Art: Carl Corley

PEC FL-12

This is an oddity in the imprint's history; a seemingly heterosexual themed novel - albeit one dealing with dom/sub dynamics. That dominatrix obviously takes her role seriously. Now, although I didn't  find this cover actually attributed to Carl Corley, if you take a look at the artwork he did for his own Fallen Eagle, you will see a number of similarities, which is why I believe it to be his work. Agree? Disagree?

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And that's all for today. We have another 90 titles to take a look at. 

I must say, I find the quality of the artwork to be of a much higher caliber than the imprints we've most recently taken a look at. This cover art is much more inline with the artwork used during the early days of Greenleaf Classics' imprints. Though cloaked in secrecy, this PEC was no fly by night operation. The fact that they took such care with their marketing (in the form of their cover illustrations) demonstrates how seriously they took their writers and the genre as a whole.

Leave your thoughts in the comments section. You know I love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

A Question of Lust - Depeche Mode