I’m not going to pretend to write a pretentious analysis of pop cover art and imagined social implications, nor any other nonsense. I’m neither an art historian nor inclined to see things that aren’t really there. Suffice it to say that these covers are intended to be eye-catching, often titillating, and always bordering on near-lurid, entirely to lure potential readers to buy the book. The accompanying cover copy, the blurb especially, is almost as over the top as the art. This isn’t a criticism, for similar art and copy is often found on the covers of far more notable works.
As for the text inside? Suffice it to say that it’s not comparable, in spite of the cover copy claims, to that of Rafael Sabatini or any other notable writer of romantic adventure. Pirate pulps are almost always extremely light on literary substance and historical accuracy, and quite heavy on cliché. Trope writing in other words. Sheer fantasy in the sense of “never happened.” Pure swashbuckling pirate genre in the form of the twentieth century version of dime novels. Enjoy!
Copyright Benerson Little, 2021 – 2022. First posted May 20, 2021. Last updated May 9, 2023.
Outstanding! I was amazed at how many of those books are on my shelf right now. “Buccaneer’s Blade” was the first pirate novel I ever read, probably 45 years ago. What memories…
These covers bring me back to the 70s when I’d scan the shelves at chain and used-book bookstores for pirate titles. A few of these in the post I’d never read until the past ten years. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Treasure Light Press.
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Outstanding! I was amazed at how many of those books are on my shelf right now. “Buccaneer’s Blade” was the first pirate novel I ever read, probably 45 years ago. What memories…
LikeLike
These covers bring me back to the 70s when I’d scan the shelves at chain and used-book bookstores for pirate titles. A few of these in the post I’d never read until the past ten years. 🙂
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