Cult Fiction: Popular Reading and Pulp Theory [Paperback]

Clive Bloom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0312213565 | ISBN-13: 978-0312213565

Here is an exploration of pulp literature and pulp mentalities: an investigation into the nature and theory of the contemporary mind in art and in life. Here too, the violent, the sensational and the erotic signify different facets of the modern experience plays out in the gaudy pages of kitsch literature. Clive Bloom offers the reader a chance to investigate the underworld of literary production and from it find a new set of co-ordinates for questions regarding publishing and reading practices in America and Britain, ideas of genre, problems related to commercial production, concerns regarding high and low culture, the canon and censorship, as well as a discussion of the rhetoric of current critical debate. Concentrating on remembered authors as well as many long regarded or forgotten, Cult Fiction provides a theory of kitsch art that radically alters our perceptions of literature and literary values while providing a panorama of an almost forgotten history: the history of pulp.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Clive Bloom is Reader in English and American Studies at Middlesex University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (June 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312213565
• ISBN-13: 978-0312213565
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,882,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cult Fiction, November 30, 1999

By 

Jonathan Alexander (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cult Fiction: Popular Reading and Pulp Theory (Paperback)

Cult Fiction was the first serious study of popular fiction of this type, and was intended to be a scholarly and academic study. Lots of books are on the shelves now which have copied what Bloom started. But he is still the best. I would recommend this book for students of popular fiction and academics alike.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good Idea, Badly Carried Out, September 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cult Fiction: Popular Reading and Pulp Theory (Paperback)

A disaster. Too many mistakes to be believed. In the first place: the authors state that there is only one known photo of Thomas Pynchon. Wrong. There are several, many of them easily accessible online. Second: The authors state that all of the novels of William Gaddis are written almost entirely in dialogue. Wrong again. The Recognitions is not written that way. Also, the authors do not include David Foster Wallace, author of Infinite Jest, which is one of the major cult books around.

Other errors abound, too numerous to list here. While an interesting and valuable idea, this book is simply too badly executed to be of any real use.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cult Fiction, December 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cult Fiction: Popular Reading and Pulp Theory (Paperback)

A scholarly, interesting and unusual book on a subject not usually covered - I enjoyed it.