The New York Review of Sex and Politics, Vol. 1, No. 8, July 1, 1969 : Special Self-Gratification Issue

NY: New York Feed Co., 1969. Edited by D. Melmoth and published by S. Edward and Steven Heller. Unbound tabloid format, 18 x 11-1/2 in. 24pp., illus., primarily in b&w, and printed on better-than-newsprint quality paper stock. Toning to front cover and edges; some tears/tatters to bottom edge. About very good.

Eighth issue of this publication established in 1969 by members of the soon-to-be-defunct New York Free Press as a way to subsidize that publication. NYRS&P co-publisher and art director Steven Heller also served as art director of the first underground sex tabloid, Screw, but disputes with Screw publisher Al Goldstein led Heller and others to break off and form NYRS&P. Their concept, meant as a repudiation of Screw's unremitting bawdiness, was to combine pornographic material with more substantive and culturally engaged content. This strategy ultimately made it difficult for NYRS&P to define a clear market, much to the chagrin of their distributors, who would have preferred outright sleaze.

This issue with "Self Gratification with Mailer & Breslin" by Ray Schultz, "Grass, Hedonism and the Doctors Plot," by Erich Goode, "All 76" of Jimi Hendrix" by Robert Somma, "The Last Estate" column by Gregory Battcock, erotic fiction, a report on New York City's attempts to crack down on sex tabloids, etc.