Weasels Ripped My Flesh! Two-Fisted Stories From Men's Adventure Magazines Paperback – January 1, 2013

The sensational cover art and salacious headlines of the men's adventure magazines of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s are only half the story. Men's adventure mag experts Bob Deis, Josh Alan Friedman, and Wyatt Doyle shed new light on these amazing periodicals with this highly entertaining & engrossing collection of "true" stories, ads, and interior artwork.Within these pages you'll find a host of riveting tales featuring Nazi sadists, man-eating turtles, jungle-hopping pin-ups, two-fisted war heroes, high-flying stewardesses-turned-prostitutes, and hard-nosed private eyes, accompanied by dozens of delightfully lurid paintings and photos. You'll also find several "shocking" exposes, first-person accounts of mind-altering forays into the then forbidden worlds of Beatniks, LSD, lesbianism, and various other "threats" to the American way of life. Along the way, you'll be treated to plenty of vintage ads for steamy stag reels, miracle fitness products, and mod menswear, as well as behind-the-scenes insights into the world of men's adventure magazines from acclaimed writers Mario Puzo, Walter Wager, and Bruce Jay Friedman. In short, it's a heady, wholly satisfying trip back through time, when the most exotic terrors and most forbidden delights were available for the price of a cup of coffee at every newsstand and corner grocery store.Having been initiated into this shadowy corner of periodical history by Mr. Deis' very informative blog ([...]) and Rich Oberg's MEN'S ADVENTURE MAGAZINES cover collection (Taschen, 2008), I've been waiting impatiently for quite some time for someone to reprint some of the fantastic tales which filled the cheap newsprint pages of these mags. New Texture exceeded my expectations with this first-rate collection, compiling long-forgotten masterpieces by some of the finest writers of the last century, including Lawrence Block, Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison, and Bob Dorr. The book also introduced me to little known scribe Walter Kaylin, whose bare-knuckled prose is enough to leave even the most seasoned literary thrill-seeker utterly breathless. And while even the most factual story in the collection is heavily embellished for maximum Saturday matinee thrills, a few had me scrambling to the internet to research real-life persons and events, including Medal of Honor winner Donn Porter, curvaceous travel writer "Jungle Jane" Dolinger, and WWII hero Colonel Jerry Sage.Kudos to Mr. Deis and company for putting together a book I could barely put down! I can't wait for Volume 2!

No doubt you've felt the bitter sting of curiosity, coiling like a viper in your guts... Men's adventure illustration, with its images of torture, wild, savage nature, and wilder women has long held an easy fascination. But what of the stories that these images were made to accompany (admittedly, sometimes before the stories themselves were written)?At long last is a book that promises the goods, and brother, does this book deliver! My own stories attempt to capture the flavor and spirit of the men's adventure genre that you find exemplified in this book, but these are the originals, the greats. Bob Deis (who signed my copy) and his co-editors carve out a still-bleeding cross-section of the field: You'll find godless beatniks, tribal politics, vicious attacks by usually docile animals, acid trips for science, small town sin-smuggling, white goddesses, lesbian mating rituals, and the obligatory bevy of unpredictable, dangerous nymphomaniacs.I believe this was the first title of the Men's Adventure Library to be published, and its diversity of stories make for an excellent introduction. I will add that Bruce Jay Friedman's closing essay, originally written for Rolling Stone in the mid 70s, was one of the highlights. Written in a wry and (possibly) self-conscious, parodic style that reflects his time working as a men's adventure magazine editor, this article paints a clear and very amusing picture of the characters that worked behind the scenes.I can't recommend this book enough. Your life may depend on reading it!

After sitting in my TBR stack for a number of years it came to the top and I have to say that in a world of real problems, none of which it is in my capacity to set straight, this batch of tales was just the ticket. I have not had so much fun reading outlandish stories in a long, long time.What fun these authors must have had dreaming up these "true" adventures to be gobbled up by readers in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Plot after plot showed how energetic the imaginations of these story tellers poured out words onto a page.For those who want to escape this insane world there is no better than in the wacky world of these wordsmiths spinning their yarns. I can only hope that more of these wild "true" adventures will be forthcoming in such reprint anthologies. I am grateful for a world that can create such creators.

Mr. Deis sent me this book along with one other that he has worked on, and I want to thank him so much for the bonus book. He also signed both of them for me, and I couldn't be any more thankful for his kindness, so I am returning that kindness with a five-star review. I got both books at good timing and they are in perfect shape. Thank you again, Mr. Deis. I'm looking forward to owning more of your books! - D.J.E.

This book is so good I can hardly put it down. Well worth the price.

Oh how well I remember staring longingly at the covers of these magazines in the racks at Doc's Drugstore at 66th and 5th in my lowly working-class neighborhood in Philly. I was allowed to buy comic books with my precious allowance money, but these "grown-up" magazines I could only stare at longingly. Even if you just tried to browse one, Doc or his wife would swoop down on you like a kamikaze and kick your scrawny ass out of the store. But now, finally, these guys have put together what must be the first-ever anthology of stories from those long-out-of-reach, forbidden sweat mags. The only thing missing are the gloriously lurid full-color cover paintings, usually of Nazis or Commies torturing beautiful babes or of Nazi and Commie babes torturing hapless red-blooded American guys, but, hey, that can be another and probably more expensive book, something else to look forward to, to live for, and the guys who put this volume together are just the team to do it. By the way, editor Bob Deis runs an amazing blog devoted to these mags (with tons of full-color scans), highly recommended to fans of the genre: [...]