Another one bites the dust. “It was a secret he had kept from the world for the previous five years… the singer’s gaunt, gray face, bearing no resemblance now to the proud one that had stared down from millions of posters, lay perfectly still on the pillow. His breathing had slowed and his brown eyes saw only the mist flooding the huge bedroom, which occupied much of the third floor of his exquisite home. Next to him sat just one of his most faithful friends, ‘60s pop heartthrob Dave Clark, who was gently holding his hand… He lay there, little more than a corpse, oblivious to the beautiful antiques, Japanese paintings and French Impressionist masters he had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on over the years, building a collection that was the envy of art lovers… His death was finally announced at midnight.” The queen of Queen, born to Persian parents as Farokh Bulsara and raised in Zanzibar and Bombay, goes out in a bohemian rhapsody. GR

Publisher: Carol
Paperback: 202 pages
Illustrated

Eddie and Tyler put on a show. “In World War II, members of the U.S. Special Service companies were combat soldiers by day and in the evenings presented stage shows and movies to entertain and boost the morale of the troops. Eddie Fuller and Tyler Carpenter were successful Broadway actors drafted to serve their country.
“Eddie and Ty were like thousands of other patriotic, dedicated GIs in war-torn Europe, except when they came across the English Channel, they also came across with two sailors in the stern of the ship. The horrors of war, the rigors of military life, the strains and romps of being gay soldiers, the show-biz highlife and GI lowlife make this an historic account you will never forget.” GR

Publisher: Alamo Square
Paperback: 159 pages
Illustrated

“Black Willie had stepped in front of Wanda and was now defiantly facing me. I looked at this man who had obviously accepted the possession of my woman—my Wanda. I say accepted because I had learned early in life that a woman could not be taken unless she, herself, was willing, and the movements that Wanda had made, sliding behind Willie and perching herself atop the stool, told me that my learning was correct. My humiliation had lasted long enough and I decided it should end… Before I departed through the door, I was forced to take a despondent and parting look at Wanda—Black Willie’s Wanda.” A player’s true tale, circa 1974. GR

Publisher: Holloway House
Paperback: 235 pages

“‘There’s all kinds of hustlers,’ he said. ‘Every salesman’s a hustler. A workaholic’s a hustler about his job… Hustling’s a universal occupation.’” A free-form “attempt to get into the mind and personality of the male hustler through a largely imagined series of dialogs between a well-known fictional hustler” and his biographer. Motivations, lifestyle, advantages and disadvantages are chronicled in a racy conversation, gleaned from interviews with hundreds of real dick ‘n’ dollar boys. GR

Publisher: Haworth
Paperback: 147 pages

“NEW Bitch IN TOWN. Report Now. HOUSE OF HUMILIATION. 7-4-9-7,” says a crude, illustrated card left by a call girl at a London phone kiosk, where johns go to ring up the cash-and-fantasy girl of their dreams. All sorts of sexual specialties are given the graphic treatment. Like crossdressing? “TROLLOPS AND HARLOTS, GLAMOUR AND GLITZ, TVs WELCOME, OPPOSITE THE RITZ. 4-9-2-0.” Watersports? “Madame Niagral 2-1-4-5.” Women in uniforms? “BOBBIE. An Arresting Experience!” More than 100 clever and sexy cards. GR

Publisher: Broadwater House
Paperback: 64 pages
Illustrated

How to kill for Kali. Examines the tools of terror Indian thuggees used centuries ago, and now freely adapted for military special operations training. “Cloaked in religious mysticism and secrecy, members of the cult of Thuggee wandered India and surrounding lands, seeking out victims and squeezing the life from their bodies—without spilling a drop of blood.” In two parts: historical perspective and methodology. Meet the great and Terrible Mother, then learn how to use the Hammer Blow, the Twist Down Technique, the Strangulation Stick, and the traditional thuggee Rumal Scarf. GR

Publisher: Paladin
Paperback: 101 pages
Illustrated

Tells—in great detail—how to secure and interpret one’s FBI files. “Too many Americans, deluded by the immense size and anonymity of modern civilization, have not yet realized that they actually live in a small town whose mayor for over 50 years was J. Edgar Hoover.” Chapters include: “The FBI Filing System,” “The FBI and the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts,“ and “How To Send for FBI Files.“ Informative and instructive, with samples of the many types of dossier pages that can be received. Includes sample letters: “Appeal of Deletions or Witholdings” and “Request to Amend Records.” GR

Publisher: Eden
Paperback: 226 pages

Book and disk combination, dealing with types of codes. “Designed to allow individuals and companies who must exchange sensitive personal or business information, to develop and maintain a secure method of trading information with each other.” Includes Cypher Pad for Windows, a double substitution cypher. “Cryptologically, it works by converting the letters of the original file and of the Key into ASCII codes, and mathematically manipulating these codes… to produce the encrypted message.” Since the encryption Key consists of up to 15 spaces, a Pentium PC would take several thousand centuries to break the random combination of letters making up the code. The CIA and NSA, however, do not have this difficulty. It is only their effort that is keeping 36-space-plus Keys off the commercial market—and those would be near impossible for others to break. GR

Publisher: Flores
Paperback: 118 pages
Illustrated

“The complete how-to guide to field dressing, transporting and processing big game, upland birds and waterfowl. Hunting and survival tips, plus simple, sumptuous recipes and much more.“ Contents: “Preparing for the Hunt,” “Big Game” (with skinning and preliminary tanning tips), “Upland Birds” (dressing them out and caring for bird dogs) and “Waterfowl.” Recipes include the “15th-Century King’s Platter,” a grouse or quail dish with bacon and brandy; and “Mud-Packed Bear Feet,” which is exactly what it says it is (the mud holds the bear’s feet together while cooking, and the only other ingredient is pepper). GR

Publisher: Stoeger
Paperback: 255 pages
Illustrated

“Toward a theory of universal lawbreaking.” Statistics, research and case studies of our public peccadilloes, from the petty to the profound. Theft, embezzlement, false charges, violence. Fellow employees do it: “It was acceptable, so you did it. When you see that other people do it, it seems to be no big deal.” Business people do it: “When you see a lot of money coming in, you get greedy.” Tourists do it: “Justifying their behavior on the high cost of the room.” Cops do it: “Some guys need a beating. In the street or the back of a precinct, there’s a guy who needs a beating. And you’ve got to do it. “ Says the author: “In this book I try to show that criminal behavior, rather than being abnormal and uncommon, is a normal and routine part of everyday life, engaged in (at least on occasion) by the majority of citizens.” GR

Publisher: University of Toronto
Paperback: 240 pages
Illustrated