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Cave of a Thousand Tales: The Life and Times of Pulp Author Hugh B. Cave
From Publisher's Weekly:
In this valentine to his subject, business writer Thomas (Common Sense Management) improves upon Audrey Parente's earlier, episodic Cave bio, Pulpman's Odyssey (1988), offering a more rounded portrait of the personal and professional life of living legend Hugh B. Cave. Still active at age 94, Cave has published more than 1,000 works of fiction across nine decades. In the 1920s and '30s, the heyday of the pulp magazines, he achieved renown as a fiction factory who could turn out memorable stories speedily for virtually any genre, though weird tales and crime thrillers were his specialty. During WWII, he wrote nonfiction books on war themes that were so well reviewed the Navy helped keep him from the draft. He was one of the few pulpsters to successfully migrate to The Saturday Evening Post and other slick magazines. Where possible Thomas lets Cave tell the story himself, in verbatim passages that reveal Cave to be an engaging conversationalist who can make penny-a-word pulpsmithing and 18-hour days at the typewriter seem exciting. Thomas's own attempts to spruce up some of Cave's biographical details in occasional passages meant to read like story excerpts seem lackluster by comparison. Though short on penetrating analysis, the book shows Cave to be a dedicated and diligent writer whose hard work ethic and irrepressible imagination has enriched the reading experiences of several generations of readers. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
In this valentine to his subject, business writer Thomas (Common Sense Management) improves upon Audrey Parente's earlier, episodic Cave bio, Pulpman's Odyssey (1988), offering a more rounded portrait of the personal and professional life of living legend Hugh B. Cave. Still active at age 94, Cave has published more than 1,000 works of fiction across nine decades. In the 1920s and '30s, the heyday of the pulp magazines, he achieved renown as a fiction factory who could turn out memorable stories speedily for virtually any genre, though weird tales and crime thrillers were his specialty. During WWII, he wrote nonfiction books on war themes that were so well reviewed the Navy helped keep him from the draft. He was one of the few pulpsters to successfully migrate to The Saturday Evening Post and other slick magazines. Where possible Thomas lets Cave tell the story himself, in verbatim passages that reveal Cave to be an engaging conversationalist who can make penny-a-word pulpsmithing and 18-hour days at the typewriter seem exciting. Thomas's own attempts to spruce up some of Cave's biographical details in occasional passages meant to read like story excerpts seem lackluster by comparison. Though short on penetrating analysis, the book shows Cave to be a dedicated and diligent writer whose hard work ethic and irrepressible imagination has enriched the reading experiences of several generations of readers. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
287 pages, Hardcover
First published June 15, 2004
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August 7, 2012
Published by the esteemed Arkham House and written by a longtime friend of Hugh's, this book is evidence of a full life well-lived. It follows Cave from his early years writing for pulp mags, earning a good wage at a time (the Great Depression) when such a thing was rare. Also goes into detail about his extensive travels throughout the Pacific during WWII and how those experiences shaped his writing. The best sections recount his days running a coffee plantation in Jamaica.
Displaying 1 of 1 review