My Kind of Book: “Judge Not My Sins”

Judge Not My Sins, by Stuart James (Midwood, 1961).

I’ve had this eye-catching cover in my computer files for the last eight years, during which time I have tried unsuccessfully to determine who, exactly, was responsible for the artwork. I decided finally to go ahead and post it here. No doubt, the moment this front appears in the blog, somebody I forgot to ask will e-mail me with the answer. At least, let’s hope that happens.

As Paperback Warrior explained just last month in a critique of Judge Not My Sins, “Stuart James was a staff writer for True and Popular Mechanics as well as a sports reporter for the Delaware Valley Advance [in Pennsylvania]. He authored original paperbacks for lowly publishing houses like Tower and Monarch.” An earlier review, in the wonderfully named (but now apparently defunct) blog Those Sexy Vintage Sleaze Books, noted that James also made rent and food money as an editor at Midwood Books, an imprint owned by New York City-based Tower Publications. From 1957 to 1968, Midwood produced R-rated men’s fiction, competing with paperback publishers such as Beacon Books (which printed early, pseudonymous yarns by the likes of Donald E. Westlake and Lawrence Block). Among James’ other novels are Frisco Flat (1960), Carnival Girl (1960, published as by “Max Gareth”), and Bucks County Report (1961).

Paperback Warrior describes the forlorn and confused protagonist of Judge Not My Sins, David Markham, as “a 34-year-old pulp writer living in New York City. He wants to write the great American novel, but his agent encourages him to grow as a writer and take the necessary stepping stones to achieve greatness. He puts David through the paces, first with newspapers, then on to writing for the pulps, and then articles as he moves into a better market. But, readers are introduced to David as he navigates the world of pulp fiction, the middle rungs on the tall literary ladder.

“David’s life is at a crossroads. He’s become complacent with writing pulp fiction, a problem he analyzes by suggesting he has already ‘written the same damned story fifty times’ and to write another will simply require changing the characters. His agent says the writing is very good, it isn’t literary garbage, and that ‘blood ’n guts’ sells. Money is the reason David clicks the typewriter keys. He’s married, although separated. He has two kids, but he only sees them once a month. His paychecks mostly go to his wife and their mortgage. All of these headaches catapult David into the arms of a mentally deranged woman named Leslie.”

As you might well be able to guess, trouble ensues …

While vintage copies of this novel can still be acquired online, publisher Cutting Edge (a brainchild of author Lee Goldberg) released a new edition of Judge Not My Sins back in December 2020. Its cover—shown above, on the right—isn’t nearly as captivating as the one displayed atop this post, but it does strike a racy note.

Bits and Bytes

• Having already written about artists Tom Adams and Mara McAfee, both of whom painted elegant covers for paperback editions of Agatha Christie’s novels, Passing Tramp blogger Curtis J. Evans today provides an assortment of other mid-1900s Christie fronts. Among them are works by William Teason (1922-2003).

• The Paperback Palette’s Jeff Christoffersen has a new post out this month about “consummate illustrator” Gordon Johnson (1924-1989), who created artwork for books by David Morrell, Helen MacInnes, Jack Higgins, Donald Hamilton, and many other authors. “Johnson’s forte was realism,” explains Christoffersen, “starting with the illustrations he produced for various magazines in the 1950s, such as The American Weekly. It would seem that his first book commissions, or those that I’ve been able to discover, adhere from about the mid-1960s, and constitute mostly teen titles from publishers like Grosset & Dunlap and Whitman. From that point on though, Johnson did what all ‘consummate’ illustrators did when the great Silver Age of Mass-Market Paperbacks got heralded in, he began producing cover art for nearly every major paperback house in New York City. Along the way he mastered each and every genre that stood before him, the ‘fantastics’ being perhaps his only overlook.”

• Finally, prolific author-blogger James Reasoner has more than a few nice things to say about George Gross: Covered (New Texture), the latest book-length study of a classic magazine and paperback artist by Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle. “This is one of the most beautiful books you’ll ever see,’ he writes, “reproducing in vivid detail many of those MAM [men’s adventure magazine] covers Gross painted. I’d post some scans of those issues, but they wouldn’t come close to equaling the reproduction in this book. In addition, Deis and Doyle provide an informative introduction, David Saunders contributes a fine biographical essay about Gross and his work, and fellow artist Mort Kűntsler, who was mentored by Gross, reminisces about their friendship and offers expert comments about Gross’s work.” Although I’ve not yet ordered a copy of this book, it’s definitely on my must-have list. And based solely on its cover art, I shall plunk down for the paperback edition.

Front to Back: Future Tense

Part II of a series spotlighting wraparound paperback art.


Beyond Tomorrow, edited by Damon Knight (Pan UK, 1973). Cover illustration by Ian Miller, with an unusual title typeface dating back to the early 20th century.

OK, so it’s now been a couple of weeks since I began posting my multipart look at wraparound paperback fronts. We finally turn to the science fiction and fantasy genres, which have left us with more examples of this extended artwork than any other category of book. Many more examples. And some beauts, to boot.

I was a big reader of SF during my teenage years, and I own some of the specimens displayed below (most of which are softcovers, with a couple of hardbacks thrown in). Others I can only wish to have found and collected when they we still available for their modest cover prices. Among the artists represented below are Dean Ellis (Protector, The Lost Continent), Peter Andrew Jones (A World Out of Time, The Patchwork Girl), Michael Whelan (The Smoke Ring), Brad Holland (Cities in Flight), Ken Laidlaw (Doctor Rat), Gervasio Gallardo (Fungi from Yuggoth & Other Poems), the remarkably prolific Bruce Pennington (Satan’s World, Dune Messiah, Lost Worlds), Ian Miller (Guardians of Time, Long After Midnight, I Sing the Body Electric!, S Is for Space, R Is for Rocket, The Golden Apples of the Sun, The Time Machine), Richard Powers (Brain Wave, Expedition to Earth, Indoctrinaire), Bob Pepper (A Voyage to Arcturus, The Mask of Circe, The Omega Point), Louis Glanzman (Tales of Neverÿon), Chris Moore (The Fountains of Paradise), David McCall Johnston (Orlando Furioso, The Tsaddik of the Seven Wonders), Leo and Diane Dillon (Strange Wine), Paul Slater (The Space Machine), Jeff Jones (The Dying Wizard, The Vultures of Whapeton), Tony Roberts (Double Star), Patrick Woodroffe (Waldo & Magic, Inc., Seven Footprints to Satan), Alan Lee (The Lost World), Ian Pollock (Profundis), Chris Foss (Orbit 4), Ray Cruz (The Shaving of Shagpat), Chris Yates (Rogue Moon), Josh Kirby (Wooden Centauri), Don Maitz (The Virgin & the Wheels), and Robert LoGrippo (The Boats of the Glen Carrig).

Also well-remembered for his wraparounds is Tim Gill, who created beautiful fronts for Brian Aldiss’ Helliconia trilogy in the 1980s.

Click on any of the images here to open an enlargement.

FOLLOW-UP: Two more examples of sci-fi wraparounds came to my attention after this piece was posted. Tom Stimpson created the artwork for The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus (1980), while credit goes to Jim Burns for the front of The Stochastic Man (1978).