Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines

Frank M. Robinson, Lawrence Davidson

Collectors Press, Inc., 1998 - Art - 204 pages

The proving ground for scores of writers and illustrators who went on to achieve great fame, pulp magazines helped popularize authors such as Dashiell Hammett, Ray Bradbury, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Taken collectively, they now provide a panorama of some 60 years of illustration and social commentary. Winner of the "Pop Culture Book of the Year" by the Independent Publisher's Association, "Pulp Culture" is a must for graphic artists, fiction lovers, and anyone who appreciates the art of pulp fiction's golden age.

Contents

• INTRODUCTION: 2
• IN THE BEGINNING: 10
• Adventures in Exotic Lands: 33
• GALS GATS AND GUMSHOES: 51
• WRITERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE: 71
• THE SHADOW KNOWS: 85
• NIGHTMARES ON MAIN STREET: 100
• COME UP AND SEE ME SOMETIME: 111
• WINNING ONE FOR THE GIPPER: 124
• FROM BAYONETS TO BIPLANES: 133
• THE ROCKETEERS HAVE SHAGGY EARS: 147
• GORILLA OF THE GAS BAGS: 163
• AUTHOR AUTHOR: 177
• PULPLIOGRAPHY: 196

About the author

Frank Malcolm Robinson was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 9, 1926. After a tour of duty in the Navy during World War II, he graduated from Beloit College in Wisconsin and then was drafted again to serve in the Korean War. He received a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. He was a writer and editor for men's magazines including Rogue, Gallery, and Playboy. At Playboy, where he worked from 1969 to 1973, he was the ghostwriter for the Playboy Advisor column, a colloquium of sex and lifestyle advice for men. During this time, he also wrote science-fiction books including The Power, which was made into a television special in 1956 and a film in 1968. He wrote several books with Thomas N. Scortia including The Glass Inferno, The Prometheus Crisis, The Nightmare Factor, and The Gold Crew. Parts of The Glass Inferno were mined in creating the final script for The Towering Inferno and the authors earned a screen credit. His 1991 novel, The Dark Beyond the Stars, was selected as one of The New York Times' notable books of the year. He worked as a speechwriter and adviser to San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, who was assassinated on November 27, 1978 by a disgruntled political rival, Dan White. Robinson had a small role in 2008 film Milk. He died of heart disease and pneumonia on June 30, 2014 at the age of 87.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines
• Authors: Frank M. Robinson, Lawrence Davidson
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Collectors Press, Inc., 1998
• ISBN: 1888054123, 9781888054125
• Length: 204 pages
• Subjects: Art / Popular Culture; Design / General; Language Arts & Disciplines / Publishers & Publishing Industry; Literary Criticism / American / General; Social Science / Media Studies; Social Science / Popular Culture