An Informal History of the Pulp Magazine

Description

Bridging the years between the dime novels of the 19th century and today's paperbacks, pulp magazines provided millions of readers with their first and only taste of "literature." Pulps were printed on the cheapest paper and housed in lurid covers that made P. T. Barnum's circus posters look like diffident charity appeals. They horrified schoolmarms, moralists and mothers. They were undignified, boisterous storytellers who endangered the reading habits and besmirched the pure thoughts of young America. And they were shams. Lightly, sardonically, expertly, noted science fiction writer Ron Goulart exorcises the myth of the pulp magazine. In Cheap Thrills, he shatters the long cherished belief that pulps were somehow invidious, if not downright nasty. On the contrary, he shows that; most of them were more straitlaced than the Boy Scout Oath. As he delightfully defends the whipping boy of Mrs. Grundy, he brings to life the long banished era of newsstand fiction, when adventure and excitement could be had every month for a dime or 15 cents. Here are all the astonishing species of pulp fiction: the cowboy story, the detective story, science fiction and fantasy, love, sports, and adventure. Words and pictures recall: The Shadow Doc Savage Black Mask Adventure Magazine Weird Tales ... and many more!