Take It Out in Trade - Walter Whitney

 

When Ace Books published Take It Out in Trade in 1957, the novel was met with public scorn and ridicule from publishing people like Random House's Bennett Cerf and others. Even the Roman Catholic Church took notice of the novel and labeled it as "Objectionable" on its monthly "Office of Decent Literature" list. 

(As an aside, I remember as a young teenaged reader scouring that very list every month to see if I could find any of the books I wasn't supposed to be reading - taking it as kind of a personal challenge to locate one or two of them. I like to think it was also an indication of my already budding belief that no one should be in the business of banning books. There is just no telling how many books the church list was responsible for selling, so I always wondered, too, if publishers ever actually got upset when one of their books appeared on it.) 

This new edition from Cutting Edge marks the first time that Take It Out in Trade has been in print in more than sixty years. According to Cutting Edge, Walter Whitney was a pen name for an author who "was never heard from again...at least not under his real name." 

The book itself is a surprisingly well written representation of the American pulp fiction genre that was so popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Its main characters may be borderline stereotypical ones, but they generally have enough depth and nuance to make them separately memorable. The plot itself could be taken as an early warning to American consumers that using revolving credit to finance what would otherwise be an unaffordable lifestyle is never a good idea. But best of all, the mysterious "Walter Whitney" is a pretty good storyteller.

The villain of the piece is Fran, a young woman with a scheme she hopes will make her rich enough to flee her hometown long before her physically abusive husband is released from prison. All of the "Arkies" and "hillbillies" coming north for factory jobs are easy pickings for a woman like Fran, and she is determined to milk her victims for every dime they have before she tosses them aside for her next target. 

But Fran doesn't have a plan for a man like Leroy, someone who has become so infatuated by her that he's willing to ruin himself and his family even after he figures out exactly what she's up to. Knowing that her husband's release from prison can come any day, Fran is desperate for the one big score that will put her nest egg over the top. But the clock is ticking...and she has two men to worry about now, not just one.

Take It Out in Trade is a novel for fans of noir crime fiction and those who have fond memories of the pulp fiction of that era. It may be tame by today's standards, but Take It Out in Trade must have been a real shocker to 1950s readers.

Walter Whitney author photo