The Happy Hairdresser
Nicholas Loupos
Richmond Hill, ON: Pocket, 1973
175 pages
This review now appears, revised and rewritten, in my new book:
The Dusty Bookcase:A Journey Through Canada'sForgotten, Neglected, and Suppressed Writing
Available at the very best bookstores and through
 |
| The Globe & Mail, 1 December 1973 |
Related post:
Fitting that Wallace's novel about an obscenity trial and the "dirty book" that is also the title is advertised in the back.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea, John. A Russ Meyer film, Maurice Girodias sued (yet again)… how did I miss this?
DeleteNever read the book but I did see the movie a long time ago. It was on TV and definitely heavily edited. A very young Tom Selleck in his feature movie debut plays the publisher of the book.
DeleteDo you think the title might have had something to do with another book "written" by a former Dutch secretary?
ReplyDeleteI'd bet on it, Tim.
DeleteFrom the book: Advice to the Woman Who Is Having Trouble Becoming Pregnant: Try a Greek. Xavier Hollander (the Happy Hooker) can't be wrong."
It does seem likely to me that they were attempting to cash in on the success of "The Happy Hooker", which was ghosted by Robin Moore, as I understand it. Do you have any suspicion that anyone ghosted this in a hurry as an "as told to"? Pocket in Canada had quite a haphazard list in those days; this might have been simply an extremely inexpensive manuscript that made its costs back after only a small run. To me, this book is in the final stages of Canadian publishing's brief flirtation with exploitation paperbacks that started in 1949 with Harlequin and the Newsstand Library-style "sex book". I found an indifferent copy on Abebooks for $29.90, but I think $12 for a near fine copy, the second most expensive listing, is about right. If I were you, I'd hold on to it -- if you paid 39 cents, you've got a huge percentage of return on investment!
ReplyDeleteNoah, that same William French column reports Jock Carroll as saying that The Happy Hairdresser was unsolicited. David Slabotsky seems to have dug up more in an article - "Publishers Parade Prejudice" - for the March/April issue of Body Politic. Sadly, I have no access (one of the downsides in moving to a small town).
DeleteI agree that Pocket's was pretty much the last Canadian attempt at cashing in on the exploitation paperback market. I've yet to find anything really worth reading. That said, I do recommend The Last Canadian to those with a taste for the truly wretched.
An old friend has asked for my 39¢ copy of The Happy Hairdresser. It'll be good to see it go. One in the house is more than enough.
Ah, "The Last Canadian"!! A classic piece de merde and, if anything, "wretched" is too kind a word. Possibly the worst Canadian novel EVER. I know, because my father pressed a copy on me and told me it was great!
ReplyDeletePocket Canada in those days was republishing Erle Stanley Gardner writing as A.A. Fair, keeping the "Cool and Lam" series in print long after Dell had allowed them to go off their list, and those are worth reading -- although the cover artist appears to have thought that the books were set in the 1920s of Bonnie and Clyde . But I agree, by and large their output in those days was unworthy of an hour of anyone's time.
I also have no access to TBP of that vintage but, given the source, I suspect I'd agree without even reading the article. TBP had plenty of sitting-duck targets for cries of homophobia; if they thought this was worth an article, I expect it was.
Well, I've described The Last Canadian as "the stupidest Canadian novel", and I stand by my words. I've long held the theory that Pocket was drawn to authors who would provide their own covers (see: Leo Orenstein's The Queers of New York). On that note - and considering that title - I imagine The Body Politic was overwhelmed in those days. Still, I'm betting that Nicholas Loupos' book stood out.
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