One Night with Nancy

New York: The Macaulay Company. Near Fine in Fair dj. (c.1933). First Edition. Hardcover. [book itself is in very nice shape, tight and clean with only minimal shelfwear; the jacket, unfortunately, has a large and somewhat jagged piece torn out at the top of the front panel (taking part of the title with it and extending down a bit into the illustration), also a tiny chip at the bottom of the front panel, a one-inch tear at the bottom rear hinge, and some moderate wear to the extremities]. A risqué "sex mystery without a serious moment -- a highly comic boudoir baffler." The plot, as it unfolds, involves "the sad decay of several marital blisses; neck-kissing in a hammock; the midnight affairs of a puritan hostess; prowlers in the garden with intentions of questionable innocence; the popular pastime of peeking in Nancy's window; the indiscretions of butler and maid; even the importance of the tassel of a dressing gown." The author was a successful playwright who scored his first big hit with "Up in Mabel's Room" in 1919; his later play, "Red Dust," became the basis for the notoriously racy pre-Code film of the same name in 1932, and he also wrote the novel "Dark Dame," which introduced the character of Maisie, featured in a series of M-G-M films and a radio series, all starring Ann Sothern. .