Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines

Frank M. Robinson, Lawrence Davidson

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

Explore the rollicking, rip-roaring era of pulp fiction. From its origins in the late nineteenth century, when adventure stories reigned, through almost six decades of slinking sleuths, galloping ghouls, nitty-gritty gals, and invincible warriors, the pulp magazines transported readers into new territories of the mind. Not only did these publications help popularize authors such as Dashiell Hammett, Ray Bradbury, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, they now provide a panorama of some sixty years of illustrationand social commentary.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - Ronrose1 - LibraryThing

This is a coffee table sized book, jam packed with wizbang reproductions of zillions, well maybe just hundreds, of covers from the pulp era. If it is possible to bring back memories of an era most of ...

Review: Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines

User Review  - Leonard - Goodreads

Terrific collection of pulp fiction covers, with added dimension from the informative and sometimes quite funny commentary and background from author Robinson.

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.

LAWRENCE DAVIDSON is Professor of History at West Chester University.

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: Design / Graphic Arts / Commercial & Corporate; Language Arts & Disciplines / Journalism