'Smut King' ( 287 pp.) was published by Dell in April, 1974. The cover artist is uncredited.
George Bishop (1927 - 1994) was born in Montreal and during the 1970s and 1980s published several books. 'The Apparition' (1979) is a Paperback from Hell, while 'The Shuttle People' (1983) is science fiction. 'Witness to Evil: The Inside Story of the Tate, La Bianca Murder Trial,' published in 1971, and 'The World of Clowns', published in 1976, are nonfiction.
'Smut King,' has long been out of print, and even in the paperback collector space, copies are difficult to find. A seller at amazon wants $50 for a 'very good' copy, while eBay and Abe Books have no copies, period. I was fortunate to get an 'acceptable' copy for an affordable price, some years ago.
I should state at the outset that the book is not a sleaze novel, with lurid and explicit descriptions of hapless coeds being used and abused by scheming pornographers. The book instead is an overview of the eccentric personalities associated with the smut world; these observations are informed with measures of humor and, at times, pathos.
While I can find no information that the novel was based on any firsthand experiences of author Bishop, it does have an 'I was there' verisimilitude........as if, for example, the author had spent time working for Milton Luros.
The novel is set in Los Angeles is the late 1960s. The eponymous King is one Jules Vengoff: overweight, grasping, scheming, a 'Semitic Nero Wolfe.' In the opening chapters, first-person narrator Jim Morgan is hired to work at 'Wickwire House', the seemingly staid publisher that serves as the front for Vengoff's porn enterprise 'Pericles Press' (which churns out XXX magazines, and mail-order 'marital aids').
The narrative follows Morgan's adventures as he learns more about Vengoff's business and the people who work for him. It's very much a nuts-and-bolts account of how the content is produced, printed, and distributed, always with an awareness of what mayhem crusading District Attorneys or Postal Inspectors might do should they find Pericles items to be offensive to their social norms.
Being clean-cut, good-looking, and a WASP in a workplace of Jews and blacks, Morgan quickly becomes a standout performer, which brings him into too-close contact with Vegoff's stunning daughter, Reva. Morgan also becomes good friends with his next-door neighbor Anita Jo, an airline stewardess who enjoys swimming in the nude. For him, fine female companionship, a good salary, and a quirky retinue of co-workers makes late-sixties L.A. a magical place to live.
The novel takes a turn in the last 30 pages, switching from a drama, to a crime novel, and a good one at that. There is a crisis, and attendant suspense and action. I won't disclose spoilers, save to say that the author avoids turning the story into a moral lesson about the evils of licentiousness.
In my opinion, 'Smut King' is a solid Five Star novel. Given the exorbitant costs to obtain a copy of the Dell paperback, is well deserving of a modern-day reprinting, and the opportunity to bring the book to a wider audience.
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