Memoirs of an Erotic Bookseller

This book is a very light read covering many aspects of the erotic exploits of Armand Coppens, an individual that has a very interesting "knack" of finding himself accidentally, or by invitation, experiencing various aspects of sexuality and it's array of permutations.

Armand in one of his many scenarios enhances an old bookshop with his knowledge of photography as the owner, a Mr. Leclercq, proceeds to manoeuvre a lady of Eastern origin in various acrobatic positions upon a table whilst the said owner performs his "duty" as Armand records, through the art of Photography, each detailed still for the pleasure of Leclerq's many overseas clients. Within this segment of the book Armand really plays the part of the "third wheel" as the banter between Leclerq and his uninterested assistant makes for a very humorous scene.
Another of Armand's friends called Dumas (I don't know if it was the influence of the book or my state of mind at the time of reading but I could not help but conjure up the image of an unintelligent quadriped each time I read Armand's friends name) had a unique fantasy of sleeping with two nurses, who HAD to be sisters, in the dunes of a beech and all the while he would imagine himself as the brother of the two Nurse Sisters! Armand being a true friend, endeavoured to fulfil this fantasy and called upon a female part-time roommate/prostitute to realise Dumas' dreams. Unfortunately, Dumas needed the Nurses to be genuine sisters so Armand had to rely on the acting ability of Gertrude and her "sister" to complete the plan. The whole project went very smoothly until Dumas started asking questions about the sister's vocation.......the end result being the ruination of Dumas' fantasy and his temper undoubtedly was directed at his good friend Armand.
There are many more escapades that involve flagellation and dominatrix with a little erotic art and a few orgies added  to the mix but I must refrain from proceeding any further for fear of rewriting the entire book. My thoughts of the reading experience are pleasant and I actually laughed aloud on one or two occasions (to anyone that has already read this masterpiece, I say only one word, Gingerbread!).
The book is filled with many interesting characters as all literature of erotica tends to be and their situational experiences are almost always tinged with a thread of humour. Oh, and I forgot to mention, there is also some references to some of the Erotic books Armand bought and sold throughout his Memoirs. All in all, an enjoyable read, I welcome all comments.

The Ginger Man by JP Dunleavy

Another short post for your perusal..........
The Ginger Man, Published by Olympia Press (see previous posts) in 1955 by Irish-American Novelist/Playwright Mr JP Dunleavy.

This story revolves around the main character, Sebastian Dangerfield. A so called loveable rogue who lives off the generosity of others whilst bending their inherent passive nature to his own will. Sebastian is the quintessential "hanger-on" or "user" abusing his long-suffering wife, friends and extended family for their uses of money, accommodation and sex. As a student, (I use this term very loosely because although one has enrolled in Trinity College Dublin, I'm assuming one must frequent the establishment for the purpose of study to be entitled to call oneself, a student) the education Mr Dangerfield embarks upon is that of Ale-taster in the various public houses within the barony of Dublin City and pursuer of woman for the purpose of.........company.
However, the eroticism of this book is contained not only within the descriptive activities of Sebastian but also in the profanity of the Narrator when supplying his opinion of the various character traits of the individuals unfortunate enough to encounter Mr Dangerfield on his escapades.

This is a brilliant read for those interested in Erotica of the mid-twentieth century although in my opinion the books success at the time was equally due to the erotic content and legal bickering (between author and publisher) that followed it's publication.

JP Dunleavy still resides in Ireland and has a list of works to his name but none have had notoriety close to that of The Ginger Man.

A short post on the very funny Tijuana Bible, Brilliant!

Hi All,
Just a quick post about the hilarious eight pagers called "Tijuana Bible's", often featuring movie starlette's and comic book characters in risqué situations and involving themselves in bawdy behaviour with members of the opposite sex.

These "two-by-fours" reached the peak of their popularity during the American Great Depression of the 1930's and continued till the 1960's and were very popular during the second world war. I assume to provide a type of funny and erotic form of entertainment. (I hope you can read the samples below)

 The wallet sized (2.5 x 4inches) "grey backs" eight panel comic strips were printed in black & white on cheap white paper. And used Characters to portray the dirty jokes at the time in picture-book form.

I apologise for my incapacity to explain in words how funny I found these little books, I laughed my socks off whilst reading them and admiring the......eh.........Artwork. I would suggest surfing the net and having a look at some of these hilarious cartoons.

 Enjoy your investigation and let me know what you find, and thank you to the underground comic book makers who produced slices of naughtiness for our dirty little minds.

Bye for now........and.......please leave a comment ;-)

Henry Miller - The Prodigal Son of American Erotic Literature.

Let's start with the predictable and move on from there, probably the best known erotic book associated with Henry Miller has to be "The Tropic of Cancer" which incidentally was published by Jack Kehane of Obelisk Press in 1935 (Obelisk is mentioned in an earlier very rushed post of mine......SORRY!!! ) and the cover was designed by a then very young Maurice Giorodias (cover shown below). Miller famously described this book as "a gob of spit in the face of Art, a kick in the pants to God, Man, Time, Love, Beauty." This was to be followed later by "Tropic of Capricorn". He took the inspiration from the circles he frequented at the time in Paris aged 39 and it contains humour, passion and spirituality. This is when experts say his career as a writer really began to take off.

Miller had what most would perceive as an unsatisfactory start to life, being part of a fractured family unit. He shared the beginning of his life with his hopeless Mother, Homosexual Father and his Sister who suffered from learning difficulties. His early works had such bawdy (I love that word) content that his works couldn't be printed in the US or the UK until the 1960's.
Some of his lesser known works to the general public "Whoroscope (1930)" written on his arrival to Paris where he set out on a tempestuous affair with Erotic Author Anais Nin, who actually paid for he first print of Tropic of Cancer. He then went on to produce among others, his trilogy of Sexus, Plexus, Nexus (1949-1960) all of which where said to have a lot of himself in them (tongue in cheek statement). Miller seemed to really enjoy women and weddings having been married 5 times with multiple liaison running parallel.
He left behind a legacy as a sexual innovator when he died in 1980 aged 88. His books helped open wider discussion on sexual issue's especially in the printed format. Henry was also a keen Watercolourist and left behind many pieces of art and books related to this genre.
Henry Miller lived a full life to which most of us can only aspire to, so to him we raise our glasses and on the chime of impact give thanks to this individuals foresight and literary efforts in the field of Erotica.
Thank you my friends, until next time.........

Please leave a comment or suggestion.

Part of my Nude Erotic Postcard Collection

Hi All,
I've had a number of requests for some more of my Erotic Postcard Collection. So here are some of my artistic nude pin-up postcards for your viewing pleasure, some nice female/female spanking postcards below. I hope you like them. Please leave a comment.

Summary of Erotic Literature by Obelisk & Olympia Press

Hi Everyone,
In this discussion I would like to speak briefly about the publishing giants of Paris in the early 1900's, Obelisk & Olympia Press.
Obelisk Press was created by Jack Kehane, the man that brought us treasures like "The Tropic of Cancer" and the erotic stories of Anais Anin. Jack also published James Joyce when other publishing houses refused to print his risqué stories. The Obelisk Press built a reputation for printing works that other companies were too scared to touch. At that time erotica was very taboo and mostly kept underground.
Jack had a son called Maurice who decided to take his mothers name Girodias, Maurice controlled the Olympia Press and brought us the wonderful stories from Lolita to The Gingerman and Candy to Story of O. Girodias, although a brave publisher, wasn't a great businessman his "easy-going" view of paying (or not paying) his writers eventually caused the failure of his fantastic empire, but not before he gave the world a number of, now famous, erotic literature.

Let me know your thoughts?

2013 A New Year of Erotica - Summary of 2012

Hi All,
Well, what a fantastic year it was last year! And I hope this year will be even better. Over the last 12 months we covered a multitude of material, from Artists to Illustrators and postcards to Authors. The support for my new blog has been amazing and I have all of you to thank for that. So make sure if you have a subject you want discussed or a particular Artist/Author/Item......Just let me know, I'm more than happy to keep you happy ;)

Over the next few months I have planned to cover an article on the famous "Olympia Press" and it's colourful creator along with some of it's even more colourful Authors/Titles. I also must return to one or two Aritsts of which I promised some of you would make an appearence on my blog.

In addition........your humble requests to showcase some of my own Erotica Collection will be answered. I'm not a professional Collector but I have a strong interest in any form of Vintage Erotica. If you would like to share some of your own Collections, please do, the more selection we have - the spicyer the articles.

I hope to have your support throughout 2013 as I did in 2012 and remember....there is no such thing as a silly suggestion/comment, all will be considered and most, actioned. Hope to hear from you soon.