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American Pulp
Collects the best American crime stories ever published, culled from the pulp magazines of the thirties, forties, and fifties and featuring such titles as ""Dime Detective,"" ""Black Mask,"" and ""The Shadow."" Original."
550 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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156 people want to read
About the author
Martin H. Greenberg
910 books163 followersMartin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 11, 2008
"'You wouldn't refuse to help poor little me?' the beautiful blonde said. She leaned over the desk and fluttered her eyelashes at John J. Malone."
One story actually begins with these words. So many stories have a surprise ending to the point that the only surprise is when the characters retain their identities from beginning to end.
The fun is just in getting a slice of crime stories from the 50s. If you liked Double Indeminity, this is just your style. Some big names like Ed McBain/Evan Hunter, Donald E. Westlake, Mickey Spillane, and John D. MacDonald show up, but the bulk comes from people like Norbert Davis and Stephen Marlowe, who aren't as well known today.
Even if the stories are a little creaky, you get the noir sense of guilt and fear hovering over everything, and it is fun to see really good pop fiction done by people who took priced in being able to do it.
"Willie drained his beer quickly. Sally was waiting supper for him. He had reached the door when he heard the shots. The black sedan shot past as he stepped outside and for one awful instant he saw a face. Black eyebrows ... the sneer ... the scar on the cheek. The face of a guy he had known three years ago. And the guy had seen him, too. In his mind, Willie ran. He ran faster than he had ever run in his life -- but his legs didn't run."
Mickey Spillane was awful in all kinds of ways. This he knew how to do.
As a general rule, this book is something that you would want to just taste once in a while to clear your palate. One creaky story with a surprise ending is fun. A lot of them in a row becomes tedious.
One story actually begins with these words. So many stories have a surprise ending to the point that the only surprise is when the characters retain their identities from beginning to end.
The fun is just in getting a slice of crime stories from the 50s. If you liked Double Indeminity, this is just your style. Some big names like Ed McBain/Evan Hunter, Donald E. Westlake, Mickey Spillane, and John D. MacDonald show up, but the bulk comes from people like Norbert Davis and Stephen Marlowe, who aren't as well known today.
Even if the stories are a little creaky, you get the noir sense of guilt and fear hovering over everything, and it is fun to see really good pop fiction done by people who took priced in being able to do it.
"Willie drained his beer quickly. Sally was waiting supper for him. He had reached the door when he heard the shots. The black sedan shot past as he stepped outside and for one awful instant he saw a face. Black eyebrows ... the sneer ... the scar on the cheek. The face of a guy he had known three years ago. And the guy had seen him, too. In his mind, Willie ran. He ran faster than he had ever run in his life -- but his legs didn't run."
Mickey Spillane was awful in all kinds of ways. This he knew how to do.
As a general rule, this book is something that you would want to just taste once in a while to clear your palate. One creaky story with a surprise ending is fun. A lot of them in a row becomes tedious.
March 14, 2020
Una raccolta di racconti intensi, a volte disturbanti. Non tutti mi sono piaciuti, ma alcuni (per esempio "Mio Figlio, Uno Sconosciuto", "Tic tac", "Piccola Peste" o "Fiamma Frigida", ma ce ne sono altri molto belli) sono vere e proprie perle, che trasformano la racconta in un'opera davvero meritevole.
February 25, 2021
I have read a number of these short story collections. As usual most are very short, a few a little longer. Most of them are good along with a few that fall short for me. This 550 page collection went a little slower for me. It took me a while to muddle through which may just reflect my current interest in reading.
This would be a good book to own because it is inexpensive and tells a little about each author including mentions of their best books.
This would be a good book to own because it is inexpensive and tells a little about each author including mentions of their best books.
September 20, 2017
Belli!
July 4, 2012
Obviously any "best of" series is going to be subjective, and there are bound to be stories that click with the reader and those that just... don't. This collection is certainly interesting, and some of the stories are downright brilliant, but there are definitely a number of stories that felt a little too much like work to get through. I'd still recommend this collection to anyone interested in the pulps; there are plenty of 5 star stories in here. Some of the stand-outs, for me, were Talmage Powell's "Sudden, Sudden Death", a haunting piece by C.B. Gilford called "That Stranger, My Son", and a short but clever piece, "The Badger Game", by Jay Flynn.
I think that I might have given this a higher rating if I hadn't plowed straight through. As it was, I finished the bulk of the book in a couple of days, which led to all but the best stories blending together a little--there are only so many stories in a row you can read about someone double-crossing someone else before they start to seem kind of similar.
Stretched out over more time, these stories might be a very fun introduction to the pulps (even if they're from the later days of pulp).
I think that I might have given this a higher rating if I hadn't plowed straight through. As it was, I finished the bulk of the book in a couple of days, which led to all but the best stories blending together a little--there are only so many stories in a row you can read about someone double-crossing someone else before they start to seem kind of similar.
Stretched out over more time, these stories might be a very fun introduction to the pulps (even if they're from the later days of pulp).
January 27, 2014
S�, il Pulp ha dato vita a Hammett e Chandler e Spillane ecc ecc, ha allevato Tarantino ecc ecc per� se era stampato su riviste povere e per trovare qualcosa si deve fare una cernita del 99%, non � che fossero perle a cornucopie, no? Le letterature che hanno conquistato l'obiettivo - in questo caso di rimettere il delitto tra gli assassini, non tra i telefoni bianchi, sono poi poco appassionanti, in qualche modo esaurite. Qualit� oscillante, ed'� un'"accurata selezione".
February 18, 2016
This is a book that is 550 pages long, and filled with stories about crime fiction. There are 35 stories, including one by Mickey Spillane , along with a lot of the other name writers of the time.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews