Pulp Fiction discussion

Captain wrote: "Nikki wrote: "I've read all the Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade novels, but I just discovered The T.C.P.D. and The T.C.P.D.'s Most Wanted by Matthew Finneran. I just wanted to mention these books to t..."
Likewise.

I'm in the middle of the Tom Franklin grit-lit anthology, Poachers
Beautifully written and induces occasional laughter.

I finally got to my copy of Nightmare Alley. I saw the film version with Tyrone Power so it inspired me to find the book online. Wow, Stan is about twice as despicable in the novel.

Franky wrote: "I finally got to my copy of Nightmare Alley. I saw the film version with Tyrone Power so it inspired me to find the book online. Wow, Stan is about twice as despicable in the novel."

Read it years ago but my original copy is too brittle to read again.

Received a recently-reissued version of that as a Christmas gift from my sister & brother in-law. I've been reading other titles I rec'd but W.L. Gresham's classic is in the "SOON" section of my TBR pile.

Still,

Very cool. I like the fact that you have a brittle copy. The one I have has a fascinating introduction. I had to buy it used on amazon, but it was well worth the purchase.

By the way, I found these cool clips on Youtube. They are interviews with Coleen Gray, who plays Molly. I like how they give a little background about the film, book and author:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w_2U5...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X32e-D...

Franky wrote: "By the way, I found these cool clips on Youtube. They are interviews with Coleen Gray, who plays Molly. I like how they give a little background about the film, book and author:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w_2U5...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X32e-D... ..."

Terrific find!!!
Thanks for posting these clips. Great factoids about Gresham.

Hey, everyone! I just finished reading and reviewing a new pulp crime fiction revenge novel with a kickass female heroine called The Ballad of Mila by Italian author Matteo Strukul.

Here is a link to my review: http://themusescircle.blogspot.com/20...

If you are fan of strong female characters like Lisbeth Salander from Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, then the Ballad of Mila is a MUST read!

Enjoy :)
Mia @ The Muses Circle

Has anyone here read High Profile the 6th book of the Jesse Stone series by Robert B. Parker? I'm interested to see if they changed the audio book.

Mia wrote: "Hey, everyone! I just finished reading and reviewing a new pulp crime fiction revenge novel with a kickass female heroine called The Ballad of Mila by Italian author Matteo Strukul. [bookcover:The ..."

I liked this book too. Read and reviewed it a couple of weeks ago.

Daniel wrote: "Shannon wrote: "I'm currently reading White Jazz by James Ellroy. This is the last book in the LA Quartet which I've read in order. My favorite is the Black Dahlia and then the Big Nowhere. I di..."

As good as this is - I do wonder how it stacks up against the DC Quartet by George Pelecanos? Some great reads in that 4 book block.

Last week I read "The Wounded and the Slain" by David Goodis. Really frustrating in some places and absolutely captivating in others.

I've read my second book by Daniel woodrell, set in a small town in the Ozarks : The Maid's Version. Great stuff.

Recently finished 2 by Agatha Christie, the play The Mousetrap and And Then There Were None.

Just finished Ross Macdonald's Troube Follows Me. First published in 1946 under RM birth name, Kenneth Millar. Excellent read even if it's not Lew Archer. Solid, hard-boiled writing and excellent storyline. Gave it five stars.

Finished Roy Huggins last week, The Double Take another hard-boiled and five star. Talk about obscure author, that's Huggins. Only wrote a couple of books before going to Hollywood to write and develop early TV series i.e. 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive.

Flash Beagle wrote: "Recently finished 2 by Agatha Christie, the play The Mousetrap and And Then There Were None."

I really can't see how Dame Agatha falls in the hard-boiled sub-genre.

Give this guy a try--My review (to be posted momentarily) explains. Inexpensive Kindle editions.

Currently reading Blood and Tacos. Short stories from hack writers who are fond of 1970's trashy novels and bad drive-in movies. Stories are usually of Vietnam vet who comes home to clean up town using fists and fire power or of Super Fly ghetto warriors who battle "the man."

Peter wrote: "Flash Beagle wrote: "Recently finished 2 by Agatha Christie, the play The Mousetrap and And Then There Were None."

I really can't see how Dame Agatha falls in the hard-boiled sub-genre."

Not only that but I read just last week that hard-boiled came about by American writers trying to offset the 'cozy' English writers such as Dame Agatha. And the word cozy was used in that context. So...I agree with you.

Robert W Talbott wrote: "

Currently reading Blood and Tacos. Short stories from hack writers who are fond of 1970's trashy novels and bad drive-in movies. Stories are usually of Vietn..."

Hardly hacks, Robert.
Johnny Shaw - author of Dove Season and Big Maria is the editor and an occasional contributor to this series.

Todd Robinson is another of the contributors and I've enjoyed several of his stories that I've read in other e-zines and anthologies.

I think perhaps it's the tongue in cheek over-the-top nature of the Blood & Tacos material that may have put you off.

Have to agree with your comparison to "1970s trashy novels and bad drive-in movies".
My assumption has always been that this e-zine is intended to be an homage to that genre.

Currently reading New England White, by Stephen L. Carter. Don't know if it qualifies as "pulp fiction." Probably not, but it's a riveting read. Dark doings in New England snow country.

Started William Lindsay Gresham's Nightmare Alley tonight. Pretty intense stuff.

I read it years ago and I've read the graphic novel adaptation by Spain Rodriguez within the past 4 years but for some reason I'd forgotten how gritty it is. And dark. Very dark.

This edition (New York Review Books Classics) has an awesome introduction by the great Nick Tosches.

Better Than Bullets: The Complete Adventures of Thibaut Corday and the Foreign Legion
Part Harry Flashman, Beau Geste, and Baron Munchusssen, these are the so called memoirs of French Foreign Legion veteran, Thibault Corday. Each story begins as the old soldier is bending the ear of a young diplomat or newspaper reporter on how a certain adventure began. Sipping wine at an Algierian sidewalk cafe, the old soldier will spot something in the market square that will trigger a memory of war with the Arabs. These tales are hair raising, amusing and border on the absurd. Stories include how 3 men battled a horde of Arabs with empty wine bottles, three bee hives, and two sows, how two rivals found themselves side by side in combat, how a man was saved from a savage tribe by his glass eye, how a man held off screaming natives with an army of dead men, and how a man escaped from a prison cell literally by the whiskers on his chin. Great pulp adventure from the 1930's

It's been a long time since I read a Mike Shayne novel. I'm glad I finished this one. Here is my review of Murder And The Married Virgin.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm reading Pronto, the novel in which the late Elmore Leonard introduced the world to modern-day cowboy lawman Raylan Givens. Flawless as usual for Leonard, he was really good at telling a rather complicated story in a way that makes it look simple.

Still wrote: "Started William Lindsay Gresham's Nightmare Alley tonight. Pretty intense stuff.

I read it years ago and I've read the graphic novel adaptation by Spain Rodriguez within the past 4 ..."

Nice. I think you'll like it Still.

We just watched the latest episode of "Justified". I've read "Pronto", too. You got it, Simon. Twisty, yet somehow laconic Raylan manages to navigate all the plots swirling around him. Love it!

Jim wrote: "We just watched the latest episode of "Justified". I've read "Pronto", too. You got it, Simon. Twisty, yet somehow laconic Raylan manages to navigate all the plots swirling around him. Love it!"

I watched episode 8 of Season 5 this afternoon.
So far this has been an exceptional season. And they've all been near-perfect.

After watching Season 1 I sat down and re-read all of the Raylan stories and novels & loved them as much as I did the 1st time through.

Great character.
Superb novels.
Terrific series.

Franky wrote: "Still wrote: "Started William Lindsay Gresham's Nightmare Alley tonight. Pretty intense stuff.

I read it years ago and I've read the graphic novel adaptation by Spain Rodriguez with..."

Thanks.

You know- as a human being?
Stanton Carlisle really sucks.

Still, I agree. Stan is not a guy I would trust playing cards with, for sure.

This is a question about Sara Gran.

I'm currently reading Ken Bruen's latest Jack Taylor novel - Purgatory.

As in most of Bruen's novels he quotes favorite authors of his.

I was looking at the 1st couple of chapters and was struck by a quote from Sara Gran's novel Claire DeWitt and The City of The Dead.

Should I purchase a couple of Gran's novels?

What would you suggest I start with?
Dope or ... City of The Dead ?

I'm reading The Pigskin Bag by Bruno Fischer. So far, this seems to be his best book.

This week I started "Riding the Rap" by Elmore Leonard, which is a direct sequel to "Pronto". It's much faster-moving because he doesn't need to spend any exposition on the main characters. Leonard's sense of humour is in full flowering, like one character being a man with the unfortunate name of Louis Lewis who wisely uses a pseudonym for most of his life.

Simon wrote: "This week I started "Riding the Rap" by Elmore Leonard, which is a direct sequel to "Pronto". It's much faster-moving because he doesn't need to spend any exposition on the main characters. Leonard..." Riding the Rap is one of my favorites. Plenty of action, sly humor and EL keeps you guessing until the end.

Recently finished & have finally got round to writing a review:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/853593981

First Jim Thompson novel for me & i enjoyed it immensely. Recently acquired all (i think) his novels, so i will gradually work my way through them.

Has anyone read the 'Master's of Noir' Volumes 1-4, published by the Wonder Publishing Group. I have them, but other than noticing there are a number of very good noir authors, i have no clue.
They look promising.

Paul wrote: "Has anyone read the 'Master's of Noir' Volumes 1-4, published by the Wonder Publishing Group. I have them, but other than noticing there are a number of very good noir authors, i have no clue.[book..."

Just read Cathy's review of Vol 1.
Had no idea these stories had been published in this format with these gorgeous covers.
Great list of authors too!

No way you can mess up getting these, Paul.

I like the first one better than the others.

They look like a fun collection will check them out

Ron wrote: "I like the first one better than the others."

Read Cathy DuPont's reviews of these anthologies.

Did these stories originally appear in the 1950s pulp digest Manhunt? Anyone know?

Still wrote: "Ron wrote: "I like the first one better than the others."

Read Cathy DuPont's reviews of these anthologies.

Did these stories originally appear in the 1950s pulp digest Manhunt? Anyone know?"

Yes, I'm sure they did. I have a lot of Manhunt magazines and they always featured authors like Frank Kane, Henry Kane, Bruno Fischer, and many others.

Ron wrote: "Still wrote: "Ron wrote: "I like the first one better than the others."

Read Cathy DuPont's reviews of these anthologies.

Did these stories originally appear in the 1950s pulp digest Manhunt? Any..."

Thanks.

I have over a dozen issues and the one paperback collection from Dell (I think it was) entitled "Manhunt" that contained stories that had first appeared in the digest.

I don't want to crack them open reading them but it's tempting when I look & see the authors: Donald Hamilton, Gil Brewer, Harold Masur and ...Bruno Fischer et al.

Alas, these are nothing but short collections of short stories, though by some of the greats. I looked at a few and they were but 150+ pages, some 100 pages short of a novel.

David wrote: "Alas, these are nothing but short collections of short stories, though by some of the greats. I looked at a few and they were but 150+ pages, some 100 pages short of a novel."

I'm not usually that keen on short stories, but a collection/anthology can be a good way to introduce oneself to authors previously unread. I prefer novels i can really 'get my teeth into', but will check these out at some point. I have so many full length novels i want to read, i may put this collection on the back burner.
Thank you everyone for your feedback.

Have just acquired 8 novels (audiobooks) by Raymond Chandler;
1- The Big Sleep
2- Farewell, My Lovely
3- The High Window
4- The Lady in the Lake
5- The Little Sister
6- The Long Goodbye
7- Playback
8- Poodle Springs (with Robert B. Parker)

I have most of these as eBooks, but it should be fun to listen to them.

That's a nice collection of audio books they are nice for long drives and boring security jobs like mine.

Excellent, Paul!

Kipp wrote: "That's a nice collection of audio books they are nice for long drives and boring security jobs like mine."

I imagine they would be great for long drives & work Kipp. I mostly listen to audiobooks when i go to bed. Trouble is, i usually fall asleep while listening. Still, that just means i get twice as much mileage out of them. Ha.
I think these are narrated by Elliot Gould, the American actor, popular in the 70's. He's quite good though someone with a bit more gravitas like Robert de Niro would have been my ideal choice.

I loved Elliot Gould in Altman's take on The Long Goodbye.

Paul wrote: "Kipp wrote: "That's a nice collection of audio books they are nice for long drives and boring security jobs like mine."

I imagine they would be great for long drives & work Kipp. I mostly listen t..."

Recently downloaded a truck load of Old Time Radio private eye and mystery series - The Adventures of Philip Marlowe; The Adventures of Sam Spade; Yours Truly Johnny Dollar; Boston Blackie; -a whole pants load of stuff from the OTR newsgroups.

I listen to them late at night after my wife's gone to sleep as it's hard for me to ring up the sandman.

I've lately grown to truly appreciate Gerald Mohr as "Marlowe" as never before.
The shows are well written good back-up cast and Mohr -who is nobody's notion of the perfect Marlowe- is perfectly capable.
Never realized that before.
Or if I did, I refused to admit it.

Never played any audio-books though I was given a few by friends.
I'm up for it though.
Insomnia is an unpleasant mistress.

I also listen to the Old Radio Shows when I sleep audible has the Dragnet collection plenty of listening time with that one.