When I first saw mention of this book at this blog I laughed out loud, and promptly went to order a copy from an online vendor.
The title and cover art (masterfully done by Fred Pfeiffer) speak to a time and place in pop culture that is so far removed from the modern era and its condemnations of Toxic Masculinity that it might as well as have been birthed on another planet.
Unfortunately, the contents of 'Studd' (239 pp., Avon Books, September 1972) don't live up to the promise of the cover.
[Anthony Cullen, according to one bibliographic reference, was born in 1920 and wrote a number of fiction and nonfiction works on Africa, safaris, and wildlife.]
The premise of 'Studd' is simple enough by the standards of Men's Adventure Fiction of the early 70s: our hero, who operates a big game hunting venture in an un-named African country, decides to take a break from the Bush, and travels to England for rest and relaxation. While there, Studd encounters Hardiman, an acquaintance from the past (the first names of the major male characters in the book never are disclosed). Hardiman convinces Studd to work as a Secret Agent.
Studd's target is an international financier named Royal, who, it seems, is getting a little too close to the Chinese for the comfort of the British government. Studd is to find a way to ingratiate himself into Royal's entourage, after which he is to discover all he can about Royal's designs and ambitions.
Studd must tread cautiously in this assignment. For Royal has a nasty habit of killing transgressors by torturing them to death.........and he's already disposed of someone close to Studd........
Why does 'Studd' disappoint ? Well, for one thing, it's not a Men's Adventure Novel, or a Spy Thriller. Superficially, it may seem as though the book belongs to these genres. In actuality, 'Studd' is a tedious, badly overwritten novel that apparently was intended to showcase author Cullen's brilliant literary qualities.
Very little in the way of plot happens within the pages of 'Studd'. Instead, the reader is treated to lengthy passages in which author Cullen attempts to write breezy, witty prose. Unfortunately, not only can Cullen not write breezy, witty, prose, he burdens this prose with all manner of obscure Thesaurus- derived words, old-school British idioms and slang, and even neologisms: for example, on page 126 the reader is confronted with the awkward adverb 'Rhododendronically'.
Wading through this stilted prose becomes taxing after the completion of only a few pages, so it took me literally months to finally finish 'Studd'. The book's ending offered some degree of closure, but not much more.
The same year that 'Studd' was published saw a spy novel that was indeed genuinely witty and well-written to boot: 'The Eiger Sanction', by Trevanian (the pseudonym of American author Rodney William Whitaker). 'Eiger' did everything that 'Studd' hoped to do, but does it immeasurably better.............
Summing up, I recommend getting a copy of 'Studd' for its packaging more than its contents. I'd like to think that circulating a photo of the cover among middle school students (clandestinely, of course) likely would do wonders for righting the state of Western Civilization................
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