Pulp Fiction, 1938 · page 20 of 64
10 Story Book, August 1938 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is a text page from a pulp magazine containing story prose and dialogue. The visible content shows a comedic one-act play titled "A ONE-ACT PLAY" (advertised as appearing in every issue of "10-STORY BOOK"). The dialogue involves characters named Doris, Praxiteles, and Agamemnon discussing a dinner party and art patronage. The scene appears humorous, with references to mythology (centaurs, Zeus, Persian mules) and domestic comedy—Doris is anxious about her absent husband's arrival while entertaining guests. Stage directions indicate physical comedy, including one character posing as a statue and another passing drinks under a sheet. The tone is light entertainment typical of early pulp magazine fiction.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
20 INTRIGUING STORIES, SPICED WITH PRETTY GIRLS! I can’t ‘do: it. Doris: What’s that? Praxiteles: We are all specialists now- days. A chiropodist might help you, but I can't. Doris: “What’s your specialty?” Praxiteles: I’m the big buttock and leg man! Good-bye! (Doris starts to go out of door, but turns immediately terrified.) Doris: Zeus protect us! Here he comes, and I think he’s coming in here. Is there a back door, or another way out? Hurry ap! Think of something. Don’t perch up there like an old buzzard. Where can I hide? (Praxiteles descends slowly from the ladder.) Doris I'd be away on business this after- noon. She’s all right, but I can never have any fun when she’s around. You’re only a bachelor so you can’t know what wives are like. Praxiteles: Don’t I though! Agamemnon: Where’s the rest of the crowd? Praxiteles: They’ll be along any minute. Phryne, my new model, is out getting the wine. You haven’t met her yet, have you? She’s a knockout. Best girl I ever had. Poses like a dream and makes a nectar that’s got a kick like a centaur. Agamemnon: A centaur? Praxiteles: My mistake. Four centaurs and a Persian mule. In Every Issue of 10-STORY BOOK Praxiteles: No, there’s no other way out. I must attend to that someday. What are you shouting at me for? Who it is? Doris: My husband! Praxiteles: Agamemnon? Doris: Yes, the snake! Why can’t he stay put for five minutes? Praxiteles: Here. You can be a statue. Get on this stand and I'll throw a sheet over you. Remember to be perfectly quiet and still, no matter what happens. Doris: All right. (Praxiteles throws sheet over her.) Praxiteles: There! (ENTER AGAMEMNON.) Praxiteles: Hello, Agamemnon. Agamemnon: The same to you, old timer. Am I in time for the party? I told A ONE-ACT PLAY Agamemnon: What’s that under the sheet? Praxiteles: That? That’s just a new piece that I’ve been making. Agamemnon: Can I look at it? Praxiteles: Later on. Here comes Phryne with the wine. Put it on the table, my dear, and come here. I want you to meet Agamemnon, a generous patron of the arts. Phryne, Agamemnon, Agamemnon, Phryne. Be nice to him, Phryne. Pour out the drinks, you two and sit down while I fix this sign. (They all have a drink and Phryne and Agamemnon sit close together on the bench. Praxiteles refills his cup and slips tt under the sheet to Doris, who downs it hastily and resumes the pose. Phryne and Agamemnon Comicboooks.€©