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69 Barrow Street
Two innocents fall prey to a woman whose beauty bewitches—and destroysRalph Lambert hates Stella nearly as much as he loves her. A painter with talent but no ambition, Ralph was adrift in his bohemian Manhattan life when the statuesque blonde stole his heart. She drew him into her lair, promising a comfortable living for as long as he keeps her satisfied. Now he suffers in silence, self-respect forgotten as the woman he cannot resist seduces every lost soul who makes the mistake of turning onto Barrow Street. Her latest target is Susan Rivers, a slender young woman who finds herself unable to resist Stella’s ferocious sexuality. But when Ralph falls for his mistress’s new toy, the lovers become fighters, unleashing Stella’s savage cruelty, and igniting a blood feud that could tear Greenwich Village apart. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Lawrence Block, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
- GenresEbooks
188 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1959
9 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Sheldon Lord
42 books5 followersA pseudonym used by Donald E. Westlake, Lawrence Block, Peter Hochstein and Milo Perichitch.
Books positively identified as Westlake's or Block's will also have their name in the author field.
Books positively identified as Westlake's or Block's will also have their name in the author field.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 14, 2016
Early Lawrence Block, his third novel, according to the afterward in the ebook version. Pretty awful. Too much exposition and the dialogue is mostly inane. Set in Greenwich Village circa 1959. Sex, drugs, and artists. Not without some merit, however, as Block, with Stella tried to create a dark and domineering character. He also tried to get inside the characters point of view and did manage to slip into free indirect at times, but for the most part the narration is shallow exposition and that does this one in.
August 4, 2017
Nearly 60 years after its initial publication, the only people still reading this book are die-hard Lawrence Block fans.
Block estimates that this was the third novel he ever wrote, completed while he was in his early 20's. Although not a good book by most standards, 69 BARROW STREET is shockingly competent and engaging for a sleazy pulp novel written by a college kid in 1959. As a work of pure entertainment, the book is both strange enough and well-written enough to be called a success.
The story is this: Ralph is an aspiring painter whose life is controlled by a depraved, bisexual beauty named Stella. Ostensibly, Ralph and Stella are lovers, though she treats him as a cuckold and pushes him to commit all sorts of atrocious behavior, up to and including rape. Just when Ralph begins to think himself irredeemable, he meets Susan, the newest resident in their apartment building. After striking up a friendship with her and convincing her to pose nude for him, Ralph slowly finds himself falling in love. Trouble is, she's a lesbian and just so happens to be sexually attracted to Stella, though she prefers Ralph as a person. Ralph hopes to cure her of her lesbian tendencies; Stella hopes to seduce her and break her spirit. Who will win out in the end?
Now, if the above synopsis sounds like a recipe for literary disaster, that's cause it is. There's no reason why a story like this should even be readable, let alone good. And yet, Block almost makes it work--not simply as a superior example of 1950's smut, but as an actual novel whose plot and characters you genuinely care about. Ultimately, however, the story falls flat, simply because Stella and Susan's character arcs wind up feeling unconvincing, even silly.
But irrespective of its flaws, the main reason I can't give 69 BARROW STREET a positive score is because it falls under the category of "erotica." Sex is the constant theme of this novel, although the graphic nature of its content is largely implied. Interestingly, most of the sex scenes are used to highlight how loathsome and/or pathetic these characters are, yet the book hypocritically titillates us with the same sexual deviancy it criticizes or even condemns. And while many such scenes arguably serve to further the story, some cannot be justified as anything other than softcore porno.
69 BARROW STREET is a clear example of an author writing material that is beneath him. Most authors would write this kind of book on autopilot, just to put food on the table. To Block's credit, he seems to give every book his all. And while that's not enough for me to recommend it, I couldn't help but be impressed by the fact that Block demonstrated such incredible potential so early in his career.
Block estimates that this was the third novel he ever wrote, completed while he was in his early 20's. Although not a good book by most standards, 69 BARROW STREET is shockingly competent and engaging for a sleazy pulp novel written by a college kid in 1959. As a work of pure entertainment, the book is both strange enough and well-written enough to be called a success.
The story is this: Ralph is an aspiring painter whose life is controlled by a depraved, bisexual beauty named Stella. Ostensibly, Ralph and Stella are lovers, though she treats him as a cuckold and pushes him to commit all sorts of atrocious behavior, up to and including rape. Just when Ralph begins to think himself irredeemable, he meets Susan, the newest resident in their apartment building. After striking up a friendship with her and convincing her to pose nude for him, Ralph slowly finds himself falling in love. Trouble is, she's a lesbian and just so happens to be sexually attracted to Stella, though she prefers Ralph as a person. Ralph hopes to cure her of her lesbian tendencies; Stella hopes to seduce her and break her spirit. Who will win out in the end?
Now, if the above synopsis sounds like a recipe for literary disaster, that's cause it is. There's no reason why a story like this should even be readable, let alone good. And yet, Block almost makes it work--not simply as a superior example of 1950's smut, but as an actual novel whose plot and characters you genuinely care about. Ultimately, however, the story falls flat, simply because Stella and Susan's character arcs wind up feeling unconvincing, even silly.
But irrespective of its flaws, the main reason I can't give 69 BARROW STREET a positive score is because it falls under the category of "erotica." Sex is the constant theme of this novel, although the graphic nature of its content is largely implied. Interestingly, most of the sex scenes are used to highlight how loathsome and/or pathetic these characters are, yet the book hypocritically titillates us with the same sexual deviancy it criticizes or even condemns. And while many such scenes arguably serve to further the story, some cannot be justified as anything other than softcore porno.
69 BARROW STREET is a clear example of an author writing material that is beneath him. Most authors would write this kind of book on autopilot, just to put food on the table. To Block's credit, he seems to give every book his all. And while that's not enough for me to recommend it, I couldn't help but be impressed by the fact that Block demonstrated such incredible potential so early in his career.
June 8, 2017
A 1962 Midwood paperback by Block's early pen name Sheldon Lord is
guaranteed to be pulpy, sexy, possibly raunchy. This book is about Greenwich Village in the early sixties, described as being the former location of many artists and writers, but now filled with junkies,
queers, perverts, and the dregs of society.
And, it was where Ralph Lambert and Stella James lived. Stella was tall beautiful blonde and a tigress. Ralph was a failed artist who hadn't painted a thing in months and lived off Stella's inheritance. Ralph was bitterly unhappy with the arrangements and considered Stella a first
class bitch on wheels. There was no monogamy in this arrangement
either as far as Stella was concerned. She enjoyed both men and women and Ralph put up with it. It's an exploitation story about damaged people.
guaranteed to be pulpy, sexy, possibly raunchy. This book is about Greenwich Village in the early sixties, described as being the former location of many artists and writers, but now filled with junkies,
queers, perverts, and the dregs of society.
And, it was where Ralph Lambert and Stella James lived. Stella was tall beautiful blonde and a tigress. Ralph was a failed artist who hadn't painted a thing in months and lived off Stella's inheritance. Ralph was bitterly unhappy with the arrangements and considered Stella a first
class bitch on wheels. There was no monogamy in this arrangement
either as far as Stella was concerned. She enjoyed both men and women and Ralph put up with it. It's an exploitation story about damaged people.
February 28, 2022
1959 soft porn by author Lawrence Block writing as Sheldon Lord. Erotic happenings take place at 69 Barrow Street in New York City's Greenwich Village. Not as titillating as it probably was over 60 years ago.
May 17, 2017
An early glimpse into the master writer; if you put the depravity of the characters aside it is a quick read and paints a grimy image of 1959 Greenwich Village
June 12, 2022
This is porn without the good parts. It's not really well written or enjoyable. It's an easy read and it certainly is atmospheric and sets the stage, but provides little value beyond that.
November 1, 2025
You can call it terribly dated. And you can call it unrealistic male gaze fantasy. But you can't call it poorly written.
August 21, 2013
I am a big fan of Lawrence Block. His 1986 novel When the Sacred Ginmill Closes is a noir classic that I would put alongside the best Dashiel Hammett and James M. Cain stories. Hit Man is another classic that manages to be profound, funny, complex, and fun all at the same time. He has been consistently good dating back to some of his early potboiler pulps in the 1960's: Grifter's Game, After the First Death, The Girl With the Long Green Heart.
If you go back earlier than that, the quality of his pseudonymous work can get a little murky, although they are almost always fun to read. There are some so-called sex novels that are actually serviceable suspense thrillers (Candy, Lucky at Cards). There are some sex novels that try but don't quite manage to transcend their genre (Diet of Treacle). And then there is the really early stuff, some of it so bad it is actually good--sort of like the movie Sharknado.
69 Barrow Street is of the latter quality. A string of unlikely, bizarre sex scenes (never actually described due to decency standards of the day) hang together by the barest of plots. Filled with descriptions of people smoking pot at parties and becoming crazed animals. Lesbians who turn straight when they just find the right man. Over-the-top bloodshed. The prose is stilted and awkward.
The fact is, I enjoyed the book for its amateur quality and unintentional humor. It is fun to trace the progress of such a talented writer all the way back to his roots. Everybody has to begin somewhere, and even here you can still see Block's gift at inventing deeply flawed characters who do bad things but you still want to see them succeed. That, after all, is the secret to his writing.
If you go back earlier than that, the quality of his pseudonymous work can get a little murky, although they are almost always fun to read. There are some so-called sex novels that are actually serviceable suspense thrillers (Candy, Lucky at Cards). There are some sex novels that try but don't quite manage to transcend their genre (Diet of Treacle). And then there is the really early stuff, some of it so bad it is actually good--sort of like the movie Sharknado.
69 Barrow Street is of the latter quality. A string of unlikely, bizarre sex scenes (never actually described due to decency standards of the day) hang together by the barest of plots. Filled with descriptions of people smoking pot at parties and becoming crazed animals. Lesbians who turn straight when they just find the right man. Over-the-top bloodshed. The prose is stilted and awkward.
The fact is, I enjoyed the book for its amateur quality and unintentional humor. It is fun to trace the progress of such a talented writer all the way back to his roots. Everybody has to begin somewhere, and even here you can still see Block's gift at inventing deeply flawed characters who do bad things but you still want to see them succeed. That, after all, is the secret to his writing.
May 18, 2013
For Block fans, this is a curious example of his early soft-core days (at least soft-core for that time period). By comparison it fascinating to see his growth and maturity into one of the greatest mystery writers of all time.
On it's own, there are glimmers of the Block that will be, especially in the last third of the story, but the (surprisingly) moral voice of the book comes off a bit too heavy handed - cures for the perversion of homosexuality? It was a different time.
On it's own, there are glimmers of the Block that will be, especially in the last third of the story, but the (surprisingly) moral voice of the book comes off a bit too heavy handed - cures for the perversion of homosexuality? It was a different time.
May 5, 2013
Sleazy fun but with some story elements that are majorly outdated to the point of being offensive, made even more jarring by the fact that the author seems aware of how offensive/implausible they are.
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February 9, 2016One of his earlier books under this psuedoname. Just a story and sexually graphic in spots but I couldn't stop reading it. Well written but just a story about some people living in this apartment complex.
February 22, 2019
Another old Block re-release
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews