Pulp writer : twenty years in the American Grub Street / Paul S. Powers ; edited and with biographical essays by Laurie Powers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Powers, Paul S. (Paul Sylvester), 1905-1971.

Contributor:

Powers, Laurie, 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Powers, Paul S. (Paul Sylvester), 1905-1971.

Powers, Paul S.

Authors, American--20th century--Biography.

Authors, American.

Pulp literature.

Authorship.

Pulp literature--Authorship.

Western stories--Authorship.

Western stories.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

274 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2007]

Summary:

He wrote under at least eight pseudonyms, published hundreds of short stories and novellas in pulp magazines, and lived a life at times as outrageous as his fiction. Pulp Writer tells of Paul S. Powers's travels from serious literary ambitions to the pages of Wild West Weekly, of his seeking his fortune (or material, at any rate) in the ghost towns and mining camps of Colorado, and of his life in Arizona and California as he reaped the rewards of his wildly successful Wild West Weekly characters such as Sonny Tabor and Kid Wolf.

Extending from the Great Depression to the golden age of the pulps, Powers's career, chronicled here in often laugh-out-loud style, is an American success story of true grit and commercial savvy and of a larger-than-life character with questionable but endlessly entertaining Western lore to spare. In the process, he provides a valuable and rarely-chronicled look at the business of writing and publishing pulp fiction during its golden years. Powers's granddaughter Laurie never knew her grandfather and lost touch with his side of the family. In her biographical essays, she finds her lost family and discovers the Pulp Writer manuscript. Her essays also provide a valuable historical context for pulp publications such as Wild West Weekly and their importance during the Great Depression.

Contents:

1 I'd Write a Mile 53

2 King of the Photoplay; And I Write a Joke 67

3 Art for the Artless 81

4 For Whom the Bellboy Toils 97

5 Darl and Heart 109

6 Ad Astra Per Aspera, Add Aspirin 117

7 A Novel, and What Didn't Come of It 131

8 General Grant Slept Here 145

9 Enter Mr. Iliphant 159

10 Tricks of the Trade 171

11 Tumbleweed in Arizona 185

12 Pilgrim in Santa Fe 201

13 A Pulp Writer's Problems 211

Life after the Pulps 223.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-267) and index.

ISBN:

9780803259843

0803259840

OCLC:

71126684

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description