The Art of the Pulps: An Illustrated History

Beautifully-produced, lavishly-illustrated survey of pulp magazines. The colour cover reproductions are fantastic (there are also a few b/w interior illustrations), and the text is by various experts in the field. Similar to Frank Robinson's Pulp Culture of a couple of decades ago, but better overall.

Beautiful book, covering a variety of genres.Great quality images, love this book

How could the contributors to this book manage to write such dull histories of such fantastic pulp art and writing? We need writing about this wonderful stuff that is as outlandish and wild as the original works. Robinson & Davidson's 'Pulp Culture : the art of fiction magazines' has more lively and interesting accompanying text. But the art in both books is fabulous.

All those gorgeous covers. Those colours. If you love the pulps, you’ll love this book. Looks great on anyone’s coffee table.

What a great book! Very informative, well-structured and fantastic quality of images.

If you like pulp cover art get this book.

Interesting history of the magazines whose influence is still felt.

Beau bouquin très solide à oublier sur le coin de la table basse. L'iconographie est à la hauteur, même si on n'en a jamais assez.

We didn't have anything quite like this when I started getting interested in pulps 10 years ago. There were some other books that covered some of the same ground, but not with this combination of excellent illustrations and concise but helpful text.The various authors of the essays are dedicated pulp culture enthusiasts with long years of experience. Ed Hulse, one of the editors, wrote The Blood 'n' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction, an excellent, detailed overview of the writing that can be found in pulps (much of which is well done, and a lot of fun). Hulse covers the western pulps in this volume, and "The Great Pulp Authors." He is the right guy to do these segments. Doug Ellis, who co-founded one of the best pulp conventions now running, The Windy City Pulp and Paper convention, has edited several pulp anthologies, and put together an excellent study of the "spicy" pulps, a 2003 award winner. David Saunders, whose father was the celebrated pulp cover artist Norman Saunders, has done more than anyone I know to preserve the art and biographies of numerous of the artists whose work is seen in these pages. Each of the other authors are notable contributors themselves.Why do some of us become so taken with the pulp world? I think these pages help make that clear. During their years of popularity (mainly the first half of the 20th Century), pulps were central to American popular culture. As one dives into this world, one can find both much of what we grew up with in terms of cultural icons (both admirable and perhaps less so at times...), as well as the seeds of what was to come. Television, comic books, and hip pocket paperbacks eventually brought about the demise of the pulps, but not before the pulps left their stamp on our world.In part because of the efforts of the people involved in this book, pulps can be collected and preserved by those of us who have the collecting bug (like me, I confess). A 60 - 70 year old pulp in great condition is a delight to behold. As this collection attests, the illustrators involved could paint figurative story-telling art with terrific skill, craft and imagination. It's becoming a bit of a lost art it seems, but here it is to enjoy. Further, several of the writers in this book are involved with the mini-industry of reprinting pulp fiction to enjoy today, without trying to read the darn pulps themselves (which tend to be rather fragile, for reasons explained along with the history of the pulps in this book).For me, reading and collecting pulps has brought some real pleasure into my life -- a world totally different from that in which I make a living, and, too, a wonderful microcosmic view of the beginnings of the culture we live in. If you can get through this book without getting hooked, I'll be a bit surprised.

A wonderful entry in the genre from the London based, Elephant Book Company, a worthy entry in their already interesting roster of Pop Culture and Popular Science grouping!. A must read maybe the best of its kind that I've seen. Love Doug Ellis' Introduction: The birth (and then the death) of the pulps followed by the rise of the paperbacks. Exceedingly well researched; chock a block full of pristine color scans of many many pulp covers some I had not seen before. 12 chapters cover all the major pulp genres including action/adventure, cops/crime, sports, love, hero pulps and my personal favorite, science fiction and fantasy. Added bonus chapters on the spicy pulps and on the great pulp authors and artists round out the experience nicely. I'm enjoying every chapter

Sono un appassionato di illustrazioni e illustratori, e questo libro è un vero godimento per gli occhi perché le illustrazioni sono veramente stampate molto bene e sono di vari periodi temporali e di diversi temi. C'è Horror, poliziesco, western e altri vari temi..Cosa VUOI di PIU'.

Livro de grande formato, muito bem ilustrado, mas também muito bem escrito.É uma boa História geral dos pulps., e talvez a melhor até hoje.