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7.
Junkie! The Life and Loves of a Drug Addict.
NY: Falcon Books, Inc., 1952. First edition (digest-size p/b original). Cover art by Ketor Seach. Issued as no.36 in Falcon Books' digest series.
"Steve's search… takes him into sordid 'Dream Street', the world of 'junkies', murderers and prostitutes, in this revealing novel of raw sex and brutal passions" (back cover blurb).
The title's similarity to that of William Burroughs's first book, published the following year, suggests that it may have influenced Ace with their unauthorised choice of title (from its inception in 1949, right up until March 1953, a month before publication, Burroughs had always referred to his novel as "Junk"; even 24 years later, when Penguin finally published the unexpurgated edition, his editor Richard Seaver insisted on the appendage, believing, like AA Wyn before him, that readers would somehow confuse "Junk" with garbage).
Spine slightly rolled; wrappers slightly rubbed and creased. Overall, a Very Good copy of one of the scarcer Falcon digests, and one of the rarest of all drug paperbacks.
