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Pulp Writer: Twenty Years in the American Grub Street
He wrote under at least eight pseudonyms, published hundreds of short stories and novellas in pulp magazines, and lived a life at times as outrageous as his fiction. Pulp Writer tells of Paul S. Powers’s travels from serious literary ambitions to the pages of Wild West Weekly , of his seeking his fortune (or material, at any rate) in the ghost towns and mining camps of Colorado, and of his life in Arizona and California as he reaped the rewards of his wildly successful Wild West Weekly characters such as Sonny Tabor and Kid Wolf.
Extending from the Great Depression to the golden age of the pulps, Powers’s career, chronicled here in often laugh-out-loud style, is an American success story of true grit and commercial savvy and of a larger-than-life character with questionable but endlessly entertaining Western lore to spare. In the process, he provides a valuable and rarely-chronicled look at the business of writing and publishing pulp fiction during its golden years.
Powers’s granddaughter Laurie never knew her grandfather and lost touch with his side of the family. In her biographical essays, she finds her lost family and discovers the Pulp Writer manuscript. Her essays also provide a valuable historical context for pulp publications such as Wild West Weekly and their importance during the Great Depression.
Extending from the Great Depression to the golden age of the pulps, Powers’s career, chronicled here in often laugh-out-loud style, is an American success story of true grit and commercial savvy and of a larger-than-life character with questionable but endlessly entertaining Western lore to spare. In the process, he provides a valuable and rarely-chronicled look at the business of writing and publishing pulp fiction during its golden years.
Powers’s granddaughter Laurie never knew her grandfather and lost touch with his side of the family. In her biographical essays, she finds her lost family and discovers the Pulp Writer manuscript. Her essays also provide a valuable historical context for pulp publications such as Wild West Weekly and their importance during the Great Depression.
- GenresPulp
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 5, 2007
2 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Paul S. Powers
24 books1 followerPaul Stanley Powers (1905-1971) is known for his long-standing career as a western pulp writer active during the 1920s through 1940s and as the creator of Wild West Weekly’s most popular heroes, Sonny Tabor and Kid Wolf. He also wrote in other genres, such as horror, noir, animal, romance, and historical accounts.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 1, 2012
Written during the early 1940s and discovered by his granddaughter 55+ years later, "Pulp Writer" is the memoir of Paul Powers, who found success as the creator of numerous western heroes during the 1930s, the heyday of pulp fiction weeklies. A high school and art school drop-out, he got his start as a professional writer submitting jokes to newspapers, and in time learned to master the short fiction formulas that would put him in demand by one of the most popular of the story magazines, "Wild West Weekly."
His story is often poignant. Son of a small-town doctor in Kansas, he is something of a dreamer, his aspirations to be a "writer" considered elitist by the rest of the town. More than a little naive and still very young when he makes a break for freedom, he is self-taught in the ways of the world. He quits a brief job as a bellboy in a hotel when he learns that some guests expect the services of prostitutes. There's also some irony. While escaping the parochial world of his upbringing, he finds praise and appreciation from the likes of those he left behind, young men who had their yearning for adventure fulfilled in the shoot-em-up stories Powers spun from his typewriter.
Laurie Powers' account of her discovery of her grandfather's career, his papers, and this unpublished manuscript, provide a fascinating story of its own. She also shares her discovery of the largely forgotten world of pulp publications and the massive audience of readers who consumed them. Her book brings back to life an era - the Great Depression - that has been remembered in a lot of other ways. For anyone interested in popular culture, this is a rewarding read.
His story is often poignant. Son of a small-town doctor in Kansas, he is something of a dreamer, his aspirations to be a "writer" considered elitist by the rest of the town. More than a little naive and still very young when he makes a break for freedom, he is self-taught in the ways of the world. He quits a brief job as a bellboy in a hotel when he learns that some guests expect the services of prostitutes. There's also some irony. While escaping the parochial world of his upbringing, he finds praise and appreciation from the likes of those he left behind, young men who had their yearning for adventure fulfilled in the shoot-em-up stories Powers spun from his typewriter.
Laurie Powers' account of her discovery of her grandfather's career, his papers, and this unpublished manuscript, provide a fascinating story of its own. She also shares her discovery of the largely forgotten world of pulp publications and the massive audience of readers who consumed them. Her book brings back to life an era - the Great Depression - that has been remembered in a lot of other ways. For anyone interested in popular culture, this is a rewarding read.
February 13, 2020
There are essentially two books here. First, the title book is a wonderful look at the difficulties of making a living as a pulp writer in the pre-World War II years. Paul Powers also includes some wonderful anecdotally material about people he knew.
The second book is essentially two biographical essays by his granddaughter Laurie Powers, who basically never knew him but had heard family hints of abuse, abandonment and alcoholism. As a 40-year-old Student at Smith, Laurie decided to write a paper on a novel that he wrote. This turned into a genealogical search for her grandfather. It is a fascinating to watch her turn up unexpected clues and gradually put together a profile of Paul Powers before and after the the years covered in his memoirs. One of the best reads I've had in a long time.
The second book is essentially two biographical essays by his granddaughter Laurie Powers, who basically never knew him but had heard family hints of abuse, abandonment and alcoholism. As a 40-year-old Student at Smith, Laurie decided to write a paper on a novel that he wrote. This turned into a genealogical search for her grandfather. It is a fascinating to watch her turn up unexpected clues and gradually put together a profile of Paul Powers before and after the the years covered in his memoirs. One of the best reads I've had in a long time.
April 9, 2024
Very interesting bio.
August 26, 2015
As a writer, I've always been interested in the pulp magazine era. It was a time when writers could make a living on short stories by writing for the myriad of pulp titles available on the newsstands. Some writers were massively prolific, often churning out millions of words a year.
Paul Powers, the author of this memoir, was one of those writers. He wrote hundreds of short stories and novellas and lived through the golden age of the pulps.
His tale is a sad one, however. He wrote almost exclusively for the Western magazines, a genre that was dwindling as early as the 1930s. Yet Powers forged on well into the 1950s, making less and less money as he succumbed to exhaustion, lack of inspiration, and alcoholism. This provdes a doubly cautionary tale for writers--don't be a one-trick pony and don't get sucked into the bottle.
Besides this important bit of wisdom, the book is less than useful for someone interested in the writing of the period. Much of the memoir is about Powers' various moves throughout the West, and is padded out with a long intorduction and conculsion by his granddaughter, who discovered the manuscript, researched Powers, and finally got it published. A large amount of her writing is only of personal interest to members of the family and I found myself skimming these parts.
If you're going to read only one book on the era, I would suggest The Pulp Jungle by Frank Gruber, which is far more informative about the lives of writers and editors and the business of pulp magazine publishing. If you want some more detail about the Western pulps, and the sad tale of how the pulp era ground down writers, give the Powers memoir a try.
Paul Powers, the author of this memoir, was one of those writers. He wrote hundreds of short stories and novellas and lived through the golden age of the pulps.
His tale is a sad one, however. He wrote almost exclusively for the Western magazines, a genre that was dwindling as early as the 1930s. Yet Powers forged on well into the 1950s, making less and less money as he succumbed to exhaustion, lack of inspiration, and alcoholism. This provdes a doubly cautionary tale for writers--don't be a one-trick pony and don't get sucked into the bottle.
Besides this important bit of wisdom, the book is less than useful for someone interested in the writing of the period. Much of the memoir is about Powers' various moves throughout the West, and is padded out with a long intorduction and conculsion by his granddaughter, who discovered the manuscript, researched Powers, and finally got it published. A large amount of her writing is only of personal interest to members of the family and I found myself skimming these parts.
If you're going to read only one book on the era, I would suggest The Pulp Jungle by Frank Gruber, which is far more informative about the lives of writers and editors and the business of pulp magazine publishing. If you want some more detail about the Western pulps, and the sad tale of how the pulp era ground down writers, give the Powers memoir a try.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews