Books: Wonderful Pulp

LOVE’S LOVELY COUNTERFEIT—James M. Cain—Knopf ($2).

Is Novelist James M. Cain a profound social reformer, or is he just a dreadful man? Disagreement on this point has kept his profitable reading public in a tizzy for years. His best-selling first novel (The Postman Always Rings Twice) was banned in Canada, bought and shelved by M.G.M. by request of the Hays office. Serenade and Mildred Pierce provoked enthusiasm, disgust. What baffled readers was the fact that Author Cain handled the rawest of characters without gloves, mixed social significance and abnormal psychology into speedy narratives of crime and passion.

In Love’s Lovely Counterfeit Author Cain is in the groove again. Principal character is broad-shouldered Ben Grace, chauffeur to Sol Caspar, racketeer ruler of Lake City.

Chauffeur Ben knew Sol was behind it when a bank was cracked by “four wild kids, anywhere from eighteen to twenty, scared so bad the slobber is running out of their mouths, couple of them coked to the ears, their suspenders stretched double from the gats they got in their pants.” He passed on the dope to the smart miss who was vote-getting for Sol’s political opponents. Ben fed her tips all through the elections; got Sol run out of town.

Then Ben took over. He bought the police and the D.A., “cleaned up” the gambling joints to make the voters happy, then put them into operation again on a “legal” basis. The girl he had tipped off became his mistress; he gave her the job of seducing the mayor into line.

Trouble was that the girl friend had a sister, as cute a kleptomaniac as ever lifted a handbag. When Ben first saw her he simply said: “You’re bad.” She “licked her lips,” and answered: “You’re bad, too.” “We’re both bad,” said Ben happily and switched sisters.

This upset the whole works. Sister No. 1 turned nasty, soon the mayor and the D.A. and the police were out to get Ben. So when Sol Caspar came back one day and Ben and Sister No. 2 fixed him for keeps, they had no influential friends to help them out. Only Sister No. 1 relented enough to weep with Sister No. 2 when her Ben expired of “lead poisoning.”

Love’s Lovely Counterfeit is an expert thriller told by the most literate U.S. pulp writer. Incidentally, it reduces Author Cain’s erstwhile social significance to trimmings as dutiful as the cherry in an Old-Fashioned cocktail.