Book cover for The Spread / Horizontal Woman by Barry N. Malzberg

The Spread / Horizontal Woman

2019 Released
188 Pages
2-3 Hours
Ebook Unavailable
Audiobook Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Stark House PressISBN 9781944520823

THE SPREAD

Walter is the New York publisher of a sex magazine called The Spread. He sells about 100,000 copies an issue. This glossy, pornographic weekly provides him a platform to work out his fantasies while fulfilling the dubious needs of his readers. The way he sees it, Walter provides a service--he is in demand. He has sex with his secretary Virginia in the office, and services his wife at home. But Walter has become both a spokesman for the sexual revolution, and a victim of it. He has become trapped by his own creation. He begins to harass the readers who send in classified ads. He ignores an advertiser who may be selling dangerous goods. The times are getting ahead of Walter. And he is the last one to know it.

HORIZONTAL WOMAN

She has good thighs, good breasts, a striking if somewhat affected face -- she knows all of this because she has been told so by clients many times -- but she knows what they can never tell her: that her best feature is her compassion and she wears it like armor through all the streets... Elizabeth Moore is a social worker. Her supervisor, Oved, is trying to train her to be a dedicated investigator. After all, her job is to protect the city and reduce public assistance. But Elizabeth has another mission, to help her clients with their self-esteem. She is a caseworker who takes her caseloads very seriously indeed. The trouble is that so many people need her. But how can she explain to her boss that the kind of therapy she provides her clients can only be offered in bed?

Barry N. Malzberg

Barry N. Malzberg is the author of more than thirty science fiction novels and hundreds of short stories, as well as several thrillers and erotic novels under his own name and various pseudonyms. He won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his 1972 novel, Beyond Apollo. His 1982 collection of critical essays, The Engines of the Night, was a major contribution to the field of science fiction.

More by Barry N. Malzberg

Why Readwise Books?

Readwise Books is an ebook & audiobook platform that automatically logs how much you and your friends read, making it fun and easy to read more. Learn more →