Orrie Hitt (1916–1975)

Pulpy meandering drivel. I wanted to read Orrie Hitt because his name kept popping up as an interesting Noir-ish tawdry take on modern living, but this one promises a bit of action, but delivers nothing much. Big tough drifter wanders onto a ranch and is hired as a hunter because the crippled man has a warped hatred of animals. Soon, the man's lusty wife and daughter are after this big sensitive galoof and succeeding for the most part in taking him down. Of course the lowlife wife wants her bad husband killed for the money and .... who knows what will happen. Actually it is all a very happy ending all around. nothing to the story though.… (more)

In this particular novel, Eddie Boyd is out of work and locked out of his apt for unpaid rent. Eddie's life philosophy is that a guy lives once and takes what he can get. Joan, a childhood friend who is waiting for her divorce and who thinks Eddie will marry her, gets him a job as a
trapper at Wildwood Acres, a 2,000 acre estate. The previous trapper was fired because he got fresh with Jennings' wife and daughter.

Jennings had fallen from a horse and is now in a wheelchair. Of course Jennings' wife Kitty is a Lot younger than him, wears clothes that barely cover her, and has looks that could grace the cover of a girlie
magazine. Kitty decides she wants Eddie to join her swimming and when he refuses she threatens to tell her husband that Eddie made a pass at her. Uh oh. Kitty sounds like trouble.

Carole, Jenning's daughter is trouble too in much the same way. Eddie can't stay out of
trouble cause one of these three women convinces Eddie to get involved in murder. Another manipulates him into blackmail. Poor guy. He's actually one of Hitt's more decent protagonists. He's not a
swindler. The women in this book are the devious ones. All in all, a very worthwhile read, particularly if you have an interest in
the dime store novels of the fifties.
… (more)

Orrie Hitt has been referred to as the king of sleaze pulp. He wrote something on the order of 150 books from the 50s to the 70s. At the height of his writing career, he would churn out a book every two weeks, working 12 hour days. His books were all capped with racy, lurid, tawdry covers.

Yes, he has similar themes running throughout his work. The men are all con artists, grifters, shady characters that
could charm the skirts off any woman. The women in his books were lushes and tramps. And the men typically are juggling three women.

Lady is a Lush is a typical Hitt book. No one would mistake Chip Collins for a choir boy. He is a bitter, cynical guy who claims he married a no-good-tramp and, in one of Hitt's great descriptions, doesn't trust her as far as he could push a tractor trailer with two broken legs. Their marriage is bitter, nasty, and full of accusations and recriminations and Collins only sticks with it because he thinks Amy is going to inherit
some money. Collins is no great catch either. He is as sleazy and dirty as they come and has a mistress or two stashed on his trucking route.

Don't try to explain that you are reading Hitt because you suddenly remembered your eleventh grade English teacher recommending it. She didn't. You are reading this because you want to get a taste of the sleazy dime-store novels that were found in abundance in the fifties.
And, don't sit here and explain that your local feminist society is recommending this book. It isn't. It's a sleazy soap opera about a blue-collar guy who fools around. Nothing more.… (more)