PULP ORIGINALS
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E-Books currently available:
Harry Whittington, The Devil Wears Wings
James McKimmey, Squeeze Play
NEW Day Keene double: Sleep with the Devil and Who Has Wilma Lathrop?"This e-publishing of pulp novels may in fact be the next step in the natural evolution of the pulp novel. The word 'pulp' refers to the cheap paper these novels were typically printed on in order to keep costs down and make them highly affordable for the mass market, so perhaps the next step is for them to be published on no paper at all." ~ Jason Starr, "Harry Whittington, The King of Pulp Originals"
Pulp Originals has been launched to make the best of 'the pulps' available to contemporary readers. We will offer for sale in e-book form some of the most vivid and skilfully crafted of mid-twentieth-century American crime novels.
Post-World War II American publishing was hugely energised by the introduction of the paperback. Although the term "pulp" was used initially to refer to the magazines that flourished in the '30s and '40s, many regular pulp magazine authors went on to write for the new wave of publishers of paperback originals (Gold Medal, Dell, Lion, etc.) that sprang up at the start of the '50s. The reading public's response to these short, intensely-plotted novels was phenomenal. Print-runs were enormous (Gold Medal typically printed 400,000 copies of each book), as were the financial rewards for their authors. The pulps paid a penny per word. Based on print-run (not sales), Gold Medal paid a penny per copy. The progression from pulp magazine to pulp novel was irresistible. By 1946 there were over 350 softcover titles in print, and during the next two decades these novels, with their lurid covers and gripping stories, transformed crime writing.
Much that was written by the best-selling pulp crime novelists of this period has fallen out of print. The internet revolution, however, can now provide what the paperback revolution offered half a century ago: cheap editions of some of the most exciting novels to emerge from the great age of hard-boiled crime writing.
DAY KEENE DOUBLE, SLEEP WITH THE DEVIL
and WHO HAS WILMA LATHROP?Day Keene was one of the best and most prolific novelists to write for the paperback originals in the late 1940s. As Bill Crider says in his introduction, 'If you’ve never read Day Keene before, either of these books would be a good place to begin. And if you’re already familiar with Keene’s work but haven’t read either or both of these, well, you’ve probably already begun the download. It’s about time.' Read Bill Crider's introduction to Day Keene
READ Read the first chapter of Sleep With the Devil: "He was in no special hurry to kill Bennett. He would know when the right time came..." read more
Read the first chapter of Who Has Wilma Lathrop?: "There was a pay phone in the lobby of the Juvenile Court Building. Jim Lathrop used it to call Wilma. He could hear the phone in the apartment ring, but no one answered. He hung up, mildly puzzled. It was the first time in the three months they’d been married that Wilma hadn’t been home when he’d called." read more
BUY Buy the Day Keene double in Adobe e-book form. The price is only $4 (£2.15). Pulp Originals is non-profit-making, and royalties from sales of the e-books offered here go primarily to the authors themselves or to the authors' estates.
James McKimmey's Squeeze Play was published as a Dell First Edition in 1962. As Jason Starr writes in his Introduction to the work of James McKimmey, "what sets Squeeze Play apart from many pulp novels of its era is its astounding depth. Behind the classic crime plot, we discover real characters with real emotions...While keeping us at the edge of our seats, he tugs at our emotions,...giving us a Cheveresque vision of suburban America of the early sixties. Squeeze Play is not only a great crime novel, it's a great novel, period." Read Jason Starr's Introduction to James McKimmey
READ Read the first chapter of Squeeze Play. "He awoke in the strange room and stared at the ceiling, puzzled. The ceiling was a cool pale green. He turned his head to the right. Dark green drapes with a modern yellow pattern that appeared to be abstract dragons were pulled across the broad window. Through the fabric, he could see bright sunlight. In front of the drapes was a chair made of white bleached wood and black iron and a fabric cushion that matched the drapes. On it, carelessly dropped, was his suit jacket. No, he thought, I'm not at home." read more
BUY Buy Squeeze Play in Adobe e-book form. The price is only $3.30 (£1.85). Pulp Originals is non-profit-making, and royalties from sales of the e-books offered here go primarily to the authors themselves or to the authors' estates.
First published in 1960, The Devil Wears Wings is a compelling heist thriller: as Bill Pronzini writes, it "combines straight suspense with an in-depth psychological character study...in a vividly drawn Florida setting." The Pulp Originals e-book of Harry Whittington's novel is introduced by one of the best young American crime novelists, Jason Starr. In "Harry Whittington, The King of Pulp Originals", Starr argues that Whittington "was the major pioneer of the pulp novel of the fifties, forging a path for writers such as Jim Thompson, Gil Brewer, Lionel White, Vin Packer, James McKimmey, John D. MacDonald and Lawrence Block."
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Read the first chapter of The Devil Wears Wings. "They gave me the okay from the control tower and I told the girl to take it down. I had been telling her she was going to be all right, and sometimes it looked as if she’d make it, but now I knew better. I had been upstairs with her for about an hour and this was more than enough. I needed a drink, I needed to lie down somewhere until the knots in my stomach loosened..." read more
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Buy The Devil Wears Wings in Adobe e-book form. The price is only $3.30 (£1.85). Pulp Originals is non-profit-making, and royalties from sales of the e-books offered here go primarily to the authors themselves or to the authors' estates.
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Pulp Originals has been jointly created by Lee Horsley and Allan Guthrie.
It is linked to their websites: Crimeculture and Noir Originals.
See About Us.
READ CHAPTER OF SLEEP WITH THE DEVIL
READ CHAPTER OF WHO HAS WILMA LATHROP?
READ BILL CRIDER'S INTRODUCTION TO DAY KEENE
READ BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON DAY KEENE
READ CHAPTER OF THE DEVIL WEARS WINGS BUY THE DEVIL WEARS WINGS
READ WHITTINGTON'S 'I REMEMBER IT WELL'
READ JASON STARR'S INTRODUCTION TO HARRY WHITTINGTON
READ CHAPTER OF SQUEEZE PLAY BUY SQUEEZE PLAY
READ JASON STARR'S INTRODUCTION TO JAMES McKIMMEY
Link to: Crimeculture Noir Originals
