Peter Haining - The Classic Era of American Pulp Magazines

[dem bones]

Picked this up on a very enjoyable crawl along Charing X Road with the legendary pulphack last Monday.

Peter Haining - The Classic Era of American Pulp Magazines (Prion, 2000)

FOREWORD
BIG SHOTS AND CHEAP THRILLS

ALL UNDRESSED AND SOMEWHERE TO GO. THE HOT PULPS
THE COMING OF THE HARDBOILED DICKS. THE CRIME PULPS
THE SPICE OF LIFE AND LUST. THE SPICY PULPS
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD. THE FANTASY PULPS
FIENDS IN RED SATIN. THE SHUDDER PULPS
KNOBHEADS AND OTHER BEMs. THE SCI-FI PULPS
THE CHILLING OF HOTSY: THE BRIT PULPS

APPENDIX THE PULP WORDSMITHS
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Blurb
THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WARS IN America were a time of dramatic upheaval – the era of sexual liberation, Prohibition, organised crime and the Great Depression. A time when ordinary Americans looked to romance and fantasy to escape their humdrum, troubled lives. During this era, along with movies and radio, came the spectacular rise of the pulp magazine.
The pulp magazine grew out of the 19th-century dime novel and was soon overtaken by comics and the arrival of the paperback book. But for a brief time between the 20s and 40s the pulps ruled supreme. Their lurid colour covers depicting thrilling sex and violence (with stories to match inside) fuelled the dreams and nightmares of a generation. For a few cents they offered everything young, red-blooded Americans wanted: sex, action and adventure. And what's more, in amongst all the sleaze, they fostered the talents of some of the greatest popular writers of the century and virtually invented the modern genres of science fiction and hard-boiled crime.
From the cheap thrills of the 'hot' and 'spicy' pulps and the sexual sadism of the 'shudder' pulps to the weird worlds of the fantasy, sci-fi and horror pulps, Peter Haining takes us on a tour of their publishing history (and in particular their artistry) to impart a true sense of the original magazines in all their sleazy, sensational glory.

For we fans of Mr. Haining's Terror, aka A Pictorial History of Horror Stories, this is treasure trove indeed. A very similar format to above-named, but with way more colour content, if anything, The Classic Era of American Pulp Magazines resembles an oversized, hardcover issue of Paperback Fanatic! Would go as far as to promote this straight into my all-time Haining top ten. Even the chapter headings are brilliant.

[dem bones]

Peter Haining - The Classic Era of Crime Fiction (Prion, 2002).

Preface

Cold-Blooded Killers & Hot Penny Bloods
The Yellow-Back Crime Fighters
Dime-A-Dozen Sleuths
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Enter the Private Investigators
The Poets of Tabloid Murder
The Mean Streets of Crime Noir
The Spies Who Came In From The Cold

Index

Blurb

During the 100 years from the middle of the nineteenth century to the 1950s, every important element of crime fiction was created. Each type of detective was born and their style of crime-solving developed by a variety of authors, British, European and American. From the pioneer cases of ‘ratiocination’ devised by Edgar Allan Poe via the introduction of the police detective, the professional sleuth, the hard-boiled private eye and on to the secret agent — not forgetting the criminal masterminds, crooks and gangsters - each facet of crime fiction came into being during this ‘classic era‘.

This book presents a lavishly illustrated history of this extraordinary literary genre. Featuring rare and little-seen covers, as well as many classic illustrations and designs, The Classic Era of Crime Fiction reveals how crucial the cover artists were in establishing the identity and popularity of crime fiction and especially its most famous characters.
From Sherlock Holmes to James Bond, and from Edgar Allan Poe to John le Carré, this book explores the exciting cultural history behind crime fiction. For the first time, crime enthusiasts can see how the famous (and sometimes infamous!) works of crime fiction were originally published and how unknown writers and illustrators were responsible for a genre that was to become one of the cornerstones of popular culture.

Haining's gorgeous companion volume to above. It's just a shame he didn't get around to a Golden Era of British Pulp Magazines & Paperbacks, though I guess we should be grateful he left something for Justin Fanatic to work his magic on.

[andydecker]

This looks spectacular.

[Jojo Lapin X]

Apropos of nothing, I just got this ominous notification: "andydecker started following you." I am now busy devising a clever disguise.