Customer Reviews

The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a terrific collection of pulp stories, no question about that. But watch out! This volume consists of two other separately published volumes, bound together in one. If you already have "Pulp Fiction : The Crimefighters" and "Pulp Fiction : The Villains", you'll be sadly disappointed by this book! (And Amazon is doing their "Buy Them Together" thing with this book and one of its two component volumes. Bad Amazon! Bad!)

This telephone-book sized anthology (clocking in at nearly 1200 pages!) lives up to its aspiration to be "The best crime stories from the pulps in their Golden Age". It is divided into sections "The Crimefighters", "The Villians", and "The Dames", with an appropriate introduction for each. Of course, the true masters are well represented: Raymond Chandler, Dashiel Hammett, Cornell Wollrich, Erle Stanley Gardner, James M. Cain et al. But there are plenty of lesser known authors to round things out. One oddity is "Sally the Sleuth", a comic-strip style from "Spicy Detective" - apparently created solely for the purpose of having most of her clothes ripped off. Obviously many of the best stories have been anthologized before, but can you believe there is a Hammett story that has never seen print? The only drawback is that this might be too much of a good thing -at just about three pounds, it's a real wrist-bender of a volume! There are minor illustrations scattered throughout, although I would have sacrificed a couple of stories for a selection of pulp covers. At this price, why would any pulp fan pass - go for it!

Let's say you're somewhat interested in the crime pulps of the golden age. This is basically where you should start. Due to it's massive size, you also might just end here too. Which isn't a bad thing because there isn't a throwaway in the bunch. You have your classic authors and forgotten gems.

Probably the best anthology I've ever had the joy of reading. Required reading for any mystery fan.

Editor Otto Penzler, Edgar-winning proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop and founder of Mysterious Press, has picked out fourteen fast-paced and tightly-written tales (mostly from Black Mask magazine) from 1928 to 1942: an era of diamond-studded gangsters and glittering gun molls, a time long before political correctness.

There are tough private eyes a-plenty, armloads of femmes fatales (a surprisingly large number of them redheads), honest "harness bulls" and corrupt cops, criminal lawyers as well as virtuous ones, even an heroic newspaper photographer.

There's a Raymond Chandler Philip Marlowe story, `Red Wind', which alone is worth the price of the book. On a night when the Santa Ana is blowing and "Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.", Chandler's world-weary knight-errant witnesses a murder in a bar, and finds himself trying to sort through the mess created by an over-ambitious blackmailer in a way that will spare the innocent.

It's a beautifully written short piece, not just for its dialogue and prose, but for its characterization, its wonderfully tight little plot, and Marlowe's personal code of honor.

Similar in tone, if less polished, is Erle Stanley Gardner's `Honest Money', the tale of a young attorney's first case. Ken Corning accepts the job of defending a woman arrested for bootlegging and attempted bribery. Almost instantly, he's visited by a cop from the liquor detail, then by the man who tells New York's mayor what to do.

Corning soon discovers what "the ring" is prepared to do to defend one of its own - and not in a courtroom. It's a cynical but oddly pleasing tale from the writer who'd later become famous as the creator of Perry Mason.

Even more darkly cynical is Cornell Woolrich's `Two Murders, One Crime', a story of a detective who realizes that the police and eyewitnesses have sent an innocent man to the gallows. When the real murderer is caught, too late, the D.A. refuses to prosecute for fear of making the system seem fallible. The detective refuses to accept this, and begins a campaign of psychological warfare against the murderer.

Leslie T. White's `The City of Hell!' also features crusading off-duty cops; it's much less subtle in its plot, characterization, police procedures and ethics, or prose style than Woolrich's (White used exclamation marks the way many modern writers use four-letter words), but it's undeniably action-packed and exciting.

`The Creeping Siamese' is a Continental Op story by Dashiell Hammett, written immediately before he started work on the superb Red Harvest. It begins with a man walking into Continental's offices and dropping dead on the floor, and doesn't slow down much after that.

While all of the stories are readable and entertaining, not all of them are gems. `Frost Rides Alone' is lightweight and rather disappointing, considering that it came from Horace McCoy, author of the brilliant (though very depressing) They Shoot Horses, Don't They? And Penzler admits to having chosen the closing piece, Carroll John Daly's `The Third Murderer' purely because of Daly's role in inventing the prototype of the hard-boiled, wise-cracking P.I. in 1923.

Penzler describes Daly rather unkindly as "truly a hack writer, devoid of literary pretension, aspiration and ability", but while `The Third Murderer' is perhaps the only story in the anthology that tends to ramble (at 136 pages, it's also by far the longest), it is also one of the few that tries to give the reader some insight into the villain and the femme fatale. Some of the twists may seem clichéd now, but that can happen when you're the pioneer in a field. It's an interesting story rather than a completely successful one, but I think Penzler was right to include it.

This book (previously released as Pulp Fiction: The Crimefighters) will not suit everyone's tastes. The world of the pulps was a simpler one, but that doesn't mean their simple answers were always good ones, and some readers may find some of these crimefighters difficult to warm to, or even tolerate.

If you dislike fiction by dead white males with few roles for women except as victims or vamps; if you're offended by stereotypes or epithets such as "good wop"; or even if you can't help giggling at the phrase "private dick", this book probably isn't for you. For fans of the genre and the era, though, it's a must-read. That's a lead-pipe cinch.

any compilation is open to criticism as to what was omitted. but if you're looking for a really big compilation of writing in this genre, it's tough to beat this. and, the introductions for each author are a nice added touch for those of us who know only the big names.
highly recommended.

Nearly 1200 pages of pulp fun, this enormous anthology contains some of the most notable authors of the era, as well as a great many that are now largely forgotten. I appreciate the chance to discover lost classics, curiosities, and other rarities. The great breadth of pulp fiction contained herein will, of course, contain plenty of hits and misses for each reader depending on his tastes, but taken as a whole you're bound to have a good time with this book. Also sspecially noteworthy is Harlan Ellison's sharply humorous introduction to the section of the book entitled VILLAINS.

Few years back I had been introduced to the works of Raymond Chandler through an anthology. Since then, I have tried to read the 'pulp fiction' as much as possible, in every possible place. The last couple of years have seen the emergence of pulp-style fiction (whose characteristics may be broadly summarised as: taut narratives, witty & sharp dialogues/wisecracks, grim but determined attitude among the protagonists, etc.), as well as retro-pulp. This mammoth work, containing many stories representing that bygone era, only substantiates the obvious, that those penny-wise and often ridiculed authors knew how to tell a tale. Although, it might be a tad difficult for the reader to handle this mighty tome, satisfaction is guaranteed. Enjoy!

1200 pages of rich, chewy pulp goodness!

You can't find better value for your money anywhere. All the big names -- Gardner, Cain, Woolrich, chandler, Hammett. The very best of the rest. A complete Race Williams novel.

A must-have!

Trying to read this tome straight through is like accepting the personal challenge of an all-you-can-eat buffet. Some of the stories are terrific (Raymond Chandler is one of my favorite authors ever, and Hammet and Woolrich shine as well), some are mediocre and formulaic, and some are lousy and not worth the effort it takes to get to the end of the first page before giving up. Ultimately, though, this is a great overview of what pulp was about, with witty and helpful introductions for each story, and even though you will certainly not want to read pulp or noir for a long time after finishing the book, it is well worth the read. I recommend taking it in small sips, though, and you should read other books along the way if you want your enjoyment of the last stories to compare to the way the first ones entertained you.

This book may be the most enjoyable read I have encountered in many a year - Otto Penzler has not only assembled a treasure trove of sometimes clever, often exciting and always fun whodunits; he has presented the reader with a veritable time machine. These stories were originally published in monthly "pulp" magazines in the 20s,30s and 40s, and they place the reader squarely into the essence of those decades. We learn so much of the popular culture of those times - the cars, the slang, attitudes towards romance, towards issues of crime and punishment - consumer products - It was a blast to read and almost made me wish I were alive in those good old bad days. Well Done!