Derek Pell

Pell's collection of covers and descriptions of nonexistent mysteries is fascinating and sometimes quite funny. The writing is a bit uneven, but the faux-noir artwork for many of the titles captures the spirit of that genre completely. And his covers for newer books are accurate reflections of how far the art of the book cover has deteriorated. After failing to find a publisher, Pell made the PDF of this book available.

Tongue-in-cheek spoof of a Victorian sex manual on how to recognize certain sexual behaviors and practices. Funny and unique. One of a kind.

This is one of those jokey books that work on the mildly titillating edges of sexual nature and practice. It's similar to some of the works of Akbar del Piombo, in trawling through collections of (usually rather strange) Victorian etchings and providing weakly relevant captions and thoughts which add humorous twists to the images, aiming at titillation and perhaps mild arousal. There is always a suspicion in such work of a tendency to laugh at rather than laugh with the less usual of tastes. show more I did not find the collection particularly amusing, but clearly this is a matter of taste. show less