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Candy
Jeff Flanders has a perfectly good life. Until Candace Cain sashays into it and turns it upside-down.
Jeff’s got a good-looking wife; he loves her and she loves him. He’s got a job, swinging a desk at a semi-shady finance company, signing off on usurious loans to losers; he doesn’t love it and it doesn’t love him, but it’s easy work and it pays the bills. Until a girl called Candy applies for a $1000 loan—with no job, no bank account, no security. Nothing but a beautiful face, an awesome body, and all the nerve in the world.
He lends her the money himself. That’s a mistake. In return, she takes him to bed. That’s a bigger one. All she wants in the world is someone who’ll keep her in style. All he wants is more Candy. . .
CANDY, first published in 1960, is a noir novel of sexual obsession. It could as easily qualify for the Classic Crime Library, as it’s unquestionably a crime novel, but on reflection LB decided it was a better fit in the Collection of Classic Erotica.
Besides, this way we get to use the gorgeous Paul Rader cover.
This ebook edition of CANDY includes, as a bonus, the opening chapter of Book #3 in the Collection of Classic Erotica, GIGOLO JOHNNY WELLS.
Jeff’s got a good-looking wife; he loves her and she loves him. He’s got a job, swinging a desk at a semi-shady finance company, signing off on usurious loans to losers; he doesn’t love it and it doesn’t love him, but it’s easy work and it pays the bills. Until a girl called Candy applies for a $1000 loan—with no job, no bank account, no security. Nothing but a beautiful face, an awesome body, and all the nerve in the world.
He lends her the money himself. That’s a mistake. In return, she takes him to bed. That’s a bigger one. All she wants in the world is someone who’ll keep her in style. All he wants is more Candy. . .
CANDY, first published in 1960, is a noir novel of sexual obsession. It could as easily qualify for the Classic Crime Library, as it’s unquestionably a crime novel, but on reflection LB decided it was a better fit in the Collection of Classic Erotica.
Besides, this way we get to use the gorgeous Paul Rader cover.
This ebook edition of CANDY includes, as a bonus, the opening chapter of Book #3 in the Collection of Classic Erotica, GIGOLO JOHNNY WELLS.
- GenresFiction
166 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1960
24 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Block
766 books2,995 followersLawrence Block has been writing crime, mystery, and suspense fiction for more than half a century. He has published in excess (oh, wretched excess!) of 100 books, and no end of short stories.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 4, 2022
Another early Lawrence Block book. The first chapter is a doozy as our first-person narrator Jeff comes home late still reeking with his mistresses' perfume and is confronted by his wife. The narration is flavored equally with asshole-ness and self-loathing and really starts the book off with an edge. Then we get a back story chapter showing how Jeff gets involved with Candy. Candy's goal is to be a kept woman and clearly Jeff doesn't make enough to keep her. He becomes obsessed with her. She dumps him. His wife leaves him. He hits the bottle. Losses his job. And then tries to find Candy. To say more would be spoiler, except that the crime elements all come late in the book. In the iBook store this is classified as erotica. It isn't, not even by 1960 standards. Couple of sex scenes, but they are not even written to excite. Overall, some good stuff here, but also plenty of filler, and it's easy to see that Block was ready to make the move to Gold Medal style books.
June 13, 2021
Lawrence Block's team offered me this title for free in audiobook format, and I gladly accepted.
The book is short and sweet and I listened to the whole thing in one sitting. This is a 1963 Lawrence Block title written under the pseudonym of Sheldon Lord (which other authors apparently used as well) that is sometimes classified as a crime novel and sometimes classified as a classic erotic novel. Despite the cover image, which was no doubt designed to sell more dime store paperbacks, it does not seem to qualify under that classification. Even by 1963 standards, I would think this would be pretty PG-rated, so anyone looking for erotica will probably be sorely disappointed. As for erotic content, it is about on par with most of Block's popular novels (unlike some of his novels like Small Town and Getting Off, which have specific themes that are more adult than his typical fare).
As for the crime aspect, it all takes place in the final couple of chapters. Everything leading up to that is the protagonist slowly destroying everything in his life because of a girl. Very noir. There is nothing earth-shattering about this book, other than the fact that it was written nearly 60 years ago by one of the greatest authors in the world. And you know what? He could write even then. Block has always had a way with words and this book has some of the witty hallmarks that have endured in his popular fiction. If you need that hard-boiled/noir itch scratched and have a couple of hours to kill, give it a whirl. If you are a Block completionist (wow, what a task!), you won't be bored by this one. It's short, after all. You can see the seeds of Mona in this one (also re-released as Grifter's Game). If you haven't read that, don't bother doing anything else until you have. Then circle back around to Candy when you need more Lawrence Block in your life.
The book is short and sweet and I listened to the whole thing in one sitting. This is a 1963 Lawrence Block title written under the pseudonym of Sheldon Lord (which other authors apparently used as well) that is sometimes classified as a crime novel and sometimes classified as a classic erotic novel. Despite the cover image, which was no doubt designed to sell more dime store paperbacks, it does not seem to qualify under that classification. Even by 1963 standards, I would think this would be pretty PG-rated, so anyone looking for erotica will probably be sorely disappointed. As for erotic content, it is about on par with most of Block's popular novels (unlike some of his novels like Small Town and Getting Off, which have specific themes that are more adult than his typical fare).
As for the crime aspect, it all takes place in the final couple of chapters. Everything leading up to that is the protagonist slowly destroying everything in his life because of a girl. Very noir. There is nothing earth-shattering about this book, other than the fact that it was written nearly 60 years ago by one of the greatest authors in the world. And you know what? He could write even then. Block has always had a way with words and this book has some of the witty hallmarks that have endured in his popular fiction. If you need that hard-boiled/noir itch scratched and have a couple of hours to kill, give it a whirl. If you are a Block completionist (wow, what a task!), you won't be bored by this one. It's short, after all. You can see the seeds of Mona in this one (also re-released as Grifter's Game). If you haven't read that, don't bother doing anything else until you have. Then circle back around to Candy when you need more Lawrence Block in your life.
June 4, 2021
As always, Block turns out another interesting slice of erotica. His narrator, Bill Weeden, has the perfect voice for Jeff (the protagonist) -- slightly gravelly, slightly sleazy, slightly weary with life. Weeden's voice makes the story even better than it would be if I were reading it instead of listening to it.
One thing -- all of Block's books that I have read (and I think I've read at least a bit in all of his series that I know about) always have transparent writing that -- even while excellent -- does not get in the way of his stories. And many of them have little surprising twists that make the stories. Even his erotica stories and his earliest crime stories have some little detail that elevates them beyond the usual fare.
On another note, I have to admit, Block and his various readers have gotten me to give audiobooks a fair try, and I am very grateful that they have done so. This is a relatively new world for me, but it has been one that has turned out to be very worth exploring.
One thing -- all of Block's books that I have read (and I think I've read at least a bit in all of his series that I know about) always have transparent writing that -- even while excellent -- does not get in the way of his stories. And many of them have little surprising twists that make the stories. Even his erotica stories and his earliest crime stories have some little detail that elevates them beyond the usual fare.
On another note, I have to admit, Block and his various readers have gotten me to give audiobooks a fair try, and I am very grateful that they have done so. This is a relatively new world for me, but it has been one that has turned out to be very worth exploring.
February 7, 2025
Candy is an interesting, if problematic, slice of mid-century sleaze. Block’s writing is always enjoyable, even at this early point in his career and when writing about a particularly unlikable protagonist.
Warning: this book is not for the timid or easily offended and even though I’ve enjoyed several of Block’s earlier efforts (especially Grifter’s Game), I can’t recommend this one. It’s an interesting time capsule but there are better uses for your time.
Warning: this book is not for the timid or easily offended and even though I’ve enjoyed several of Block’s earlier efforts (especially Grifter’s Game), I can’t recommend this one. It’s an interesting time capsule but there are better uses for your time.
September 25, 2023
This is Crime Noir, like most of Lawrence Block’s work, not “Erotica” or “soft porn(?!)”. For the most part it holds up to the rest of his writing, vis a vis the style. However, the plot is a little thin.
February 22, 2019
Another one
July 8, 2016
Real author is Lawrence Block. Not only is this one of Block's "soft porn" novels he wrote in the sixties, but it is also a very good thriller and noir type novel.
March 26, 2017
This was OK up until he raped Candy's lesbian girlfriend. It's hard to have any sympathy for the main character after that. So the end is probably for the best.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews