Pulp Frictions: Hardboiled Stories

by Peter Haining (Editor), James Ellroy (Contributor), Carroll John Daly (Contributor)

Enter a world of seedy nightclubs, dangerous, dimly-lit street and cool, wisecracking dicks pitting themselves against armies of ruthless gangsters. This is pulp fiction, a genre spawned amid the disillusionment of post-World War I America - and now reaching new heights of popularity.

Writers like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett turned that unique blend of rapid-fire action, violence and cynical humour into an art form that is being recreated by a fresh wave of young writers whose stories have all the drama and atmosphere of their predecessors'.

This page-turning collection, brought together by a true aficionado of the hardboiled story, includes, of course, Chandler and Hammett, but also Mickey Spillane, Ross MacDonald, Ed McBain and James Hadley Chase from the vintage years and from the current generation James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino, to name just a few of the twenty great writers featured here. Even Stephen King, doyen of the world of horror, has turned his hand to pulp fiction and is represented in this book.

The world of the hard-drinking, fast-action, apparently indestructible private eye, personified by Chandler's creation, Philip Marlowe, was never more vibrant. It's all here, and more, in a book that no fan of the genre can afford to miss.

Genres: Pulp, Fiction, Detective, Crime, Collections

333 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK/Novella 105 (of 250)
About "Professional Man": I could find no separate ISBN number for this novella, but I've read Goodis' "Down There" and have seen the film version of that novel entitled "Shoot The Piano Player" and Goodis is a contributor here, and so here it shall go. "Professional Man", according to Otto Penzler, appeared first in the October 1953 issue of Manhunt magazine.
HOOK=3 stars: "At five past 5 the elevator operated by Freddy Lamb came to a stop on the street floor. Everyone liked Freddy, what a nice guy." And as all of us understand, Freddy must not be very nice at all if everyone likes him, cause no one likes everyone.
PACE=4: Nicely done by Goodis: each "kill" scene gets bigger and "better" as the reader follows the titular "Professional". But I have a limit to violence, Goodis stays just this side of over-the-top. If you're looking for hard boiled at 11 on the dial, check out Chester Himes.
PLOT=4: Freddy is 2 people: an elevator operator is his day job. His night job? You've guessed right, as the first hit here is directed by Freddy's boss, Herman. But Herman must have Freddy's girl, putting Freddy in a tough spot (he's a killer and Herman can prove it). Pearl goes to Herman, and she doesn't like it. Then Herman doesn't like the situation, and Herman orders another kill. There is a gorgeously rendered grand finale.
CHARACTERS=2: Freddy is miserable. Pearl is a stripper treated bad. Herman thinks killing is fun. No one is nice, and there isn't much of a background on anyone.
ATMOSPHERE/PLACE=4: "There were no lights in the alley except for a rectangle of green neon far down toward the other end. The rectangle a glowing frame for the neon wording: Billy's Hut. It was also a beckoning finger for the special type of citizen...never happy unless he was being ripped off in a clip joint." And later, "They came to a section where [there was no lights, no trees, no movement, no sound except the autumn wind drifting through the trees and bushes and tall grass and flowers." Even Goodis' simple park is menacing: I like these kinds of descriptions, I need to feel that autumn wind, for example.
SUMMARY: 3.4 for a strong, atmospheric plot. Novellas and shorts sometimes have to give something up, here it is character development.

[Eve Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jim Thompson's The Frightening Frammis.
Funny, exciting and the best among these stories.
I read some of the others as well but they just didn't hold my interest the same as Thompson. There is something about his style that I love.

[Daniel Souza Luz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serviu como minha introdução aos clássicos do noir - cuja estética conheço bem graças a HQs underground. Mesmo dando-se um desconto por ser uma literatura que trabalha com clichês, são tantos que irritam um pouco. Os melhores contos são de dois autores desconhecidos: Robert Leslie Bellem (A Cabeça do Morto) e Ed McBain (Registro de Acidente, uma obra-prima do sarcasmo). É uma montanha-russa, varia do muito ruim ao ótimo. Eu achei que seria mais sombrio e brutal, mas às vezes não vão além do que o Conan Doyle já fazia. E não é tão bem-humorado quanto o organizador da coletânea quer fazer crer. Neste quesito, o McBain é realmente o melhor, mas outros autores acabaram me arrancando algumas gargalhadas também, entre eles o Elmore Leonard. Chama a atenção também a erudição do organizador Peter Haining, que situa e contextualiza o leitor de forma exemplar.

[Tiia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect while starting to read, I had it years on my bookshelf. It was short crime stories, bit brutal, but not that shocking these days. Maybe in time they've been published they have been quite a gender to read. I mainly waited to stories of Stephen King and Quentin Tarantino, but they weren't any better than others.

[Cordelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want more. Especially Jim Thompson