THE ART OF PULP FICTION An Illustrated History of Vintage Paperbacks

Wow, this looks even better than I could have imagined. Finally, THE book on vintage paperback art -- a visual feast of great artwork! -Bud. From 1940 to 1970, paperbacks eclipsed pulp magazines and hardbound books as the most popular delivery vehicle for escapist fiction. And it was all about the cover art. To catch the eyes of potential buyers they were adorned with covers that were invariably vibrant, frequently garish, and often lurid. Today the early paperbacks -- like the earlier pulps, inexpensively produced and considered disposable by casual readers -- are treasured collector's items. Award-winning editor Ed Hulse (The Art of the Pulps, which also has our highest recommendation, and The Blood 'n' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction) comprehensively covers the pulp-fiction paperback's heyday. Hulse writes chapter introductions and captions, while a team of genre specialists and art aficionados contribute the special features included in each chapter -- the focus on important authors, artists, publishers, and sub-genres. Illustrated with more than 500 memorable covers and original cover paintings. Hulse's extensive captions, meanwhile, offer a running commentary on this significant genre, and also contain many obscure but entertaining factoids. Images used in The Art of Pulp Fiction have been sourced from the largest American paperback collections in private hands, and have been curated with rarity in mind, as well as graphic appeal. Consequently, many covers are reproduced here for the first time since the books were originally issued. With an overall introduction by Richard A. Lupoff, novelist, essayist, pop-culture historian, and author of The Great American Paperback (2001), "the only comprehensive history of vintage softcover books published prior to [this]." This was his last piece of professional writing before he passed away. Lupoff is a legend himself for his books about ERB and much more.