# Classic Trashy Novels Month **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028 "2007-11-28T14:58:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/1 "2007-11-28T14:58:41Z")
The last couple of years I’ve declared December “Classic Trashy Novels Month” and will scratch an itch for some great cheesecake reading. Typical selections include _Peyton Place_, The _Earth’s Children_ series, _Flowers in the Attic_, _Valley of the Dolls_, and _The Thorn Birds_. Anyone have any good suggestions for this year’s list? Really the only rules are that they be enjoyable, reasonably well-written and from the 70’s or earlier. Extra points if seeing me reading it makes senior citizens giggle. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/2 "2007-11-28T15:05:34Z")
How about Krantz’s Scruples? ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/3 "2007-11-28T15:09:25Z")
Does **Lust for Life** by Irving Stone (1934) count as cheesecake? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/4 "2007-11-28T15:12:46Z")
The 70’s or earlier? I’m remembering entertaining books by Frank Yerby, Sidney Sheldon, and Irwin Shaw. Also Mandingo by Kyle Onstott – that’d raise some eyebrows – and Aztec by Gary Jennings. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/5 "2007-11-28T15:59:28Z")
Forever Amber - Kathleen Winsor The Best of Everything - Rona Jaffe God’s Little Acre & Tobacco Road - Erskine Caldwell The Girl from Storyville - Frank Yerby anything by Kathleen Woodiwiss - The Flame & The Flower, The Wolf & The Dove Enjoy! VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/6 "2007-11-28T16:13:42Z")
[QUOTE=Veuve\_ClicquotNJ] anything by Kathleen Woodiwiss - The Flame & The Flower, The Wolf & The Dove Enjoy! VCNJ~ [/QUOTE] Oh yeah, the Wolf and the Dove --total crap, total trash, totally irresistible ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/7 "2007-11-28T16:26:46Z")
There’s the lifes work of one Harold Robbins. Of particular note are _The Lonely Lady_, _The Betsy_, and _The Carpetbaggers_, which had the following classic, trashy exchange: Man to bride: “What do you want to see on your honeymoon?” Bride: “Lot’s of lovely ceilings!” > **[Harold Robbins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Robbins)** > > Harold Robbins (May 21, 1916 – October 14, 1997) was an American author of popular novels. One of the best-selling writers of all time, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages. > Robbins was born Harold Rubin in New York City in 1916, the son of Frances "Fannie" Smith and Charles Rubin. His parents were well-educated Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire, his father from Odessa and his mother from Neshwies (Nyasvizh), south of Minsk. Robbins later false... He was once billed as “The Worlds most successful novelist” or somesuch, and with 3/4 of a billion sold, definitely ranks up there among the Class of the Trash. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/8 "2007-11-28T16:28:24Z")
If you liked VotD then explore further the works of Jackie Susann. None of them match VotD but they are entertaining. There’s “The Love Machine,” “Once is Not Enough” and her roman a clef of Jackie O, “Delores.” I’d also recommend the biography that came out a few years ago, “Lovely Me,” which isn’t trashy per se but is a quick and fun read. There is also a sequel to “Peyton Place,” entitled unoriginally enough “Return to Peyton Place.” Grace Metalious also wrote what amounted to an abridged PP, “The Tight White Collar” which isn’t very good but has the virtue of being quite short. If you have any interest in lesbian softcore with unhappy endings, there was an entire sub-genre of [lesbian pulp fiction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian_pulp_fiction). I haven’t read any of it so can’t offer any recommendations of specific titles. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/9 "2007-11-28T16:35:05Z")
What was the one that started with “Which one of you bitches is my mother?”? Is that _Lace_? ETA: Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/10 "2007-11-28T16:36:04Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] What was the one that started with “Which one of you bitches is my mother?”? Is that _Lace_? [/QUOTE] Yup, that’s another good’un. And there’s always **Lace2** ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/11 "2007-11-28T16:36:34Z")
Oooh, and anything by Arthur Hailey, esp. _Hotel_. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/12 "2007-11-28T16:40:34Z")
This might be a bit off topic, but I’d recommend _The Godfather_ by Mario Puzo. It’s actually pretty well written, with a sly sense of irony throughout. There’s plenty of sex and violence, and a lot of the story didn’t make it into the movie. If you like it, also check out _Fools Die_ by the same author. I may be misunderstanding what you mean by trashy novel. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/13 "2007-11-28T16:42:02Z")
Harold Robbins! A Stone for Danny Fisher aka Knock on Any Door. And Harrison High by John Farris – trash for teens. I think I’ve read every book mentioned so far in this thread. Earl Thompson wrote good trash, but he’s probably not well-known enough to raise eyebrows at the doctor’s office – try Garden of Sand and Tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/14 "2007-11-28T17:17:59Z")
Wow - another Earl Thompson fan. Glad to know there are two of us 😃 VCNJ~ [QUOTE=AuntiePam] Harold Robbins! A Stone for Danny Fisher aka Knock on Any Door. And Harrison High by John Farris – trash for teens. I think I’ve read every book mentioned so far in this thread. Earl Thompson wrote good trash, but he’s probably not well-known enough to raise eyebrows at the doctor’s office – try Garden of Sand and Tattoo. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/15 "2007-11-28T17:30:37Z")
How about something by [Mickey Spillane?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Spillane) ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/16 "2007-11-28T17:36:14Z")
I can’t believe no one’s yet included The Ultimate: _Wifey_, Judy Blume. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/17 "2007-11-28T17:48:30Z")
Oh, almost forgot “Beulah Land” – slavery, sex, violence – the total package. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/18 "2007-11-28T18:14:47Z")
Can I recommend Sidney Sheldon? And Dean Koontz? Lovely trashy vintage, both. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/19 "2007-11-28T18:24:45Z")
Another vote for _Aztec_ by Gary Jennings. Sex, gore, warfare, backstabbing, political intrigue, human sacrifice, more sex, religious satire, still more sex, and the collapse of a vast and (in many ways) noble civilization. A big book but a fast read; well-researched, well-written, a real page-turner. I re-read it every five or six years, it seems. It’s _that_ good! ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028/20 "2007-11-28T18:30:45Z")
The Big O - Rosemary Santini [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-trashy-novels-month/428028.md?page=2)