Ep 6 – Sexy Sleaze Paperbacks and Orie Hitt
We discuss the history of this unique paperback genre, how the books were written and distributed, and the people who read them (primarily men). The era (excuse the pun) “peaked” in the 1960s when new readers and marketplaces emerged (the adult bookstore). Even established authors like Robert Silverberg and Harlan Ellison wrote (using pseudonyms) these “sleazy novels). Even though society looked down on these types of books, a lot of money was made creating and distributing these books.
In the second half of the show, we profile one of the most prodigious authors of sleaze fiction (250 novels in 10 years), Orie Hitt. While most collectors of sleaze paperbacks look for bizarre and colorful cover art, Orie Hitt’s novels are actually quite readable even though he borrowed plots and wrote them in a hot heat over two or three weeks.
We chose his novel, Wild Lovers, to discuss with Cody Goodfellow and Kim Vodicka, both writers, and lovers of the strange and erotic. It’s backwoods sleaze (a sub-sub-genre of sleaze) that takes place in the backwoods of New York and the dialogue is priceless. Cody and Kim perform a scene from the novel in a separate recording made just for these show notes (see below).
SPECIAL GUESTS
CODY GOODFELLOW has written eight novels and five collections of short stories and edits the hyperpulp zine Forbidden Futures. His writing has been favored with three Wonderland Book Awards for excellence in Bizarro fiction. His comics work has appeared in Mystery Meat, Dark Horse’s Creepy and Slow Death Zero. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous TV shows, videos by Anthrax and Beck and a Days Inn commercial. He “lives” in San Diego, California.
KIM VODICKA is the author of four full-length poetry collections—most recently, The Elvis Machine (CLASH Books, 2020) and Dear Ted (Really Serious Literature, 2022). She also writes erotica and her short story, A Dirty Story as You Like It, was published in 2021 as part of the Pocket Erotica Series by New Urge Editions. Originally from South Louisiana, she lives in Memphis, Tennessee with her beloved cat, Lula.
LINKS
- Sin-a-Rama: Expanded Edition: Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties by Adam Parfrey (ed) and B. Astrid Daley (ed) is the key reference work for the Sex/Sleaze paperbacks. It covers all the bases: interviews with authors, distributors, and dealers. Endless covers and descriptions of the mind-boggling array of subjects within the genre. We used this book as the essential guide for our podcast.
- Orie Hitt, the Shabby Shakespear of Vintage Sleazecore blog. There are a lot of blog posts dedicated to Hitt or to one of his novels, but this side is focused on the entire oeuvre of Orie Hitt along with his life.
- Vintage Greenleaf Classics book scans website. This site features one of the most interesting sleaze publishers and many of their covers.
- Kayo Books and Hangfire books. Both bookstores have a great selection of Sex/Sleaze paperbacks. Prices are often high, but the quality is top-notch.
- Sleaze paperbacks on Etsy. Surprisingly good selection at lower prices than other online sites.
- Retrospace online site with lots of interesting reviews of forgotten sex novels.
- Retrospace: Vintage Reads #45: More Sleazy Paperbacks by John Harrison. Although not as comprehensive as Sin-A-Rama, this book is still an excellent introduction to Sex/Sleaze.
- Collectors Weekly: Kozy Paperback Books page. A focus on Kozy Books (Orie Hitt’s publisher) that is well written and informative.
- Steve’s Flickr Gallery Sin-A-Rama Sleaze. A wonderful source for sleaze covers by a prodigious collector/scanner.
READING
Special Reading of a Scene from Orie Hitt’s Wild Lovers by Kim Vodicka and Cody Goodfellow. Click the link below to listen. Thanks to you both for doing this! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aV0e4nTfJoSY-FYks0dF53hImxIV9IwL/preview?usp=sharing