How does one mend a ripped bodice, anyway?

June 19, 2007 8:04 PM

Everyone knows about Fabio, but he's just one in a large stable of studs used as romance novel cover models. Ladies, meet 'Sicilian sweetheart' Anthony Catanzaro (warning: music), a paperback cover model and so, so much more. Of course, even he wouldn't be where he is today without the illustrators of those bodice-ripping covers.
posted by chowflap (23 comments total)

I went through a heavy-duty romance novel phase in my late teens and early 20s... I still sometimes re-read my old favorites... But I never really got the whole concept behind using real people as models for the covers. Wouldn't it be cheaper, production-wise, to just have the cover artists draw imaginary people? Besides, the people on the covers never look the way the characters do in my mind's-eye (my my mind can conjure up waaay sexier studs than Fabio, yeesh).
posted by amyms at 8:52 PM on June 19, 2007

I'm so glad you mentioned Fabio. I'm a huge fan of his rollercoaster accident - it's like the universe suddenly decided he was just too silly and needed a spanking. I mean...a bird, square in the nose - brilliant.
posted by davebush at 9:05 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

hahaha this is the best post ever!!
posted by petsounds at 9:26 PM on June 19, 2007

im serious, thank you.
posted by petsounds at 9:26 PM on June 19, 2007

I'm gonna pretend dis post nevah happened. You get what I'm sayin pal?
posted by Skygazer at 9:30 PM on June 19, 2007

From this link:
Name the 3 most important aspects in your own personal life today and why?
TONY ~ I would have to say myself, Tina my wife, and our dog Tiny.

Tony, Tina, and Tiny. Nice.
posted by blueloggy at 10:14 PM on June 19, 2007

He's probably one of the least attractive people I've ever seen. Like a reject from an International Male catalog.
posted by Liosliath at 10:26 PM on June 19, 2007

OMG. Best. Intro. Ever. (Raunchy page loading graphic + awful Flash splash = comedy gold)
posted by Liosliath at 10:30 PM on June 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

*registers mrromance2007.com - mrromance20017.com*
posted by dersins at 11:04 PM on June 19, 2007

(i figure by the time i'm 36 the bloom may be off the rose a bit, but maybe i should go through 2027 just to be safe...)
posted by dersins at 11:05 PM on June 19, 2007

*registers mrromance2007.com - mrromance20017.com*

Hmm. By "46," I apparently meant "18,046." Whatever. My beauty is ageless.
posted by dersins at 11:07 PM on June 19, 2007

One day you will be old, Fabio. I will still love you, but not exclusively. You can make this easy or hard. It's your choice.
posted by stavrogin at 11:31 PM on June 19, 2007

Quite possibly the best post since the last UFO post or Holy Grail post. Thanks, chowflap.
posted by msjen at 12:24 AM on June 20, 2007

Everyone does not know about Fabio. I have never heard of him
posted by A189Nut at 1:30 AM on June 20, 2007

anthony catanzaro presents the turbo charger, which makes fitness easy!
posted by sergeant sandwich at 1:35 AM on June 20, 2007

oh God. Why did I click on that? Lo, I am fouled by the gheyness.
posted by smoothvirus at 4:27 AM on June 20, 2007

I love this quotation from his interview:

"I have a complex spirit and a simple brain."

And apparently he doesn't own any shirts.
posted by suki at 6:15 AM on June 20, 2007

Heheh, I think the most amusing thing on that site is the picture on his page about New York that consists of him photo-shopped in front of...

...the New York New York casino in Las Vegas.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:59 AM on June 20, 2007

I once heard someone refer to "bodice rippers" as "bosom rippers".

ouch.
posted by the dief at 7:44 AM on June 20, 2007

funny but to me he looks like a better looking version of
character actor Peter Stormare-

" i am going to be real Russian hero and Pimp you kar...vee dub style"
posted by duality at 8:17 AM on June 20, 2007

Thanks, everyone! This was my first real post. I've been a long-time lurker and (more recently) an infrequent commenter. But once I found Tony, I had to share him with the world.
posted by chowflap at 8:33 AM on June 20, 2007

I still can't believe it's not butter. Must be soylent green or something...
posted by Eekacat at 11:07 AM on June 20, 2007

I think if I ripped a woman's bodice she'd get somewhat pissed, since those things can be extremely expensive.

And I always thought it was funny that the bookcovers of porn for women always had pictures guys that looked pretty much the same on them.
posted by Talanvor at 3:13 PM on June 20, 2007