Pulp Today

- Season 3

(2022)

Special guest Stephen Robinson, writer for Wonkette, AV Club and playwright, joins David to talk about Patricia Highsmith's classic mystery, the Hitchcock film adaptation, and to nerd out on a wide variety of topics.

A reading from Michael Avallone's THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT A DAME, featuring a missing Shakespeare play and a psychotic private detective who may or may not be Mike Hammer.

Science fiction writers often try to predict the future, with varying results. H. G. Wells does a terrifyingly good job in his mostly-forgotten 1914 novel THE WORLD SET FREE.

Groundbreaking author Ursula K. Le Guin examines the power of dreams and the danger of wishes coming true in her classic novel. The use of Who concert laser show effects in the PBS adaptation is, sadly, not addressed.

In memory of breathtaking Italian actress Monica Vitti, today we talk about the iconic character MODESTY BLAISE, and how an entertaining comic strip became a train-wreck of a film, and then an excellent series of spy novels.

Graham Greene was a master of pulp fiction and a great "literary" novelist: THIS GUN FOR HIRE (originally A GUN FOR SALE) is one of his sharpest. Can you put a wall between two aspects of your own talent? And what makes a man a murderer?

Richard Condon wrote sophisticated thrillers that were pulpy and smart, influencing anyone who ever turned a conspiracy theory into entertainment. WINTER KILLS is ripped-from-the-headlines catharsis; a pulp model as old as Oedipus Rex.

Some books open important doorways for you. For David Avallone, one of those was Robert Silverberg's classic science fiction anthology DEEP SPACE.

Can a serious author write a serious novel about - Superman? Tom De Haven answers that question with a resounding, entertaining, delightful "yes!"

R.L. Stine is a wildly prolific paperback horror phenomenon, and comics writer Kelly Sue Milano (Hex11) joins me to talk about his FEAR STREET SUPER CHILLER: SILENT NIGHT.

G.K. Chesterton's classic, influential masterpiece, subtitled "A Nightmare", echoes in every spy and conspiracy story you've ever read. "The adventures may be mad, but the adventurer must be sane."

William Eastlake's dreamlike WWII classic, about modern war crashing into medieval Europe. In all that destruction - what can be saved? All that, plus a pretty lazy Burt Lancaster impression.

Critically acclaimed author Gary Phillips joins David Avallone, to read from, and talk about, Chester Himes' classic COTTON COMES TO HARLEM, and all things pulp.

No martinis this time, as the subject is Charles Jackson's ground-breaking classic about an alcoholic's five day bender. Also featured: the things you find in old paperbacks, and a telegram from Jackson to Michael Avallone.

Robert J. Hogan lived through the Great War and turned nightmarish experience into high adventure -- and fantastic science fiction -- in his classic pulp series G8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES.

To celebrate the premiere of STRANGE NEW WORLDS and commemorate the passing of original STAR TREK artist James Bama, this week's topic is the novelizations of James Blish.

Anyone remember THE FELONY SQUAD? Has Michael Avallone's well-regarded original tie-in outlived the memory of the TV show it was based on? Listen to a chapter and decide for yourself.

Sixty-six episodes, and we haven't gotten around to a swashbuckler pulp. We correct that oversight with a reading from C. S. Forester's classic Royal Navy hero, in his first adventure. Bonus: what does swordplay really sound like?

Like Dashiell Hammett, Andrew Vachss walked the walk before he sat down to write about crime. Unlike Hammett, Vachss was able to write explicitly - honestly - about the kind of monsters who walk the earth disguised as ordinary people.

A great mystery novel turned into a great film noir. David Avallone discusses the life and work of Vera Caspary, blacklists and gray-lists, and the impossibility of reading this book without imitating Clifton Webb.

As San Diego Comic Con 2022 approaches, David Avallone reads from Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's INFERNO, which connects the dots between fan conventions and eternal suffering.

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Paul Auster uses the detective genre to investigate questions of identity, story and reality in CITY OF GLASS. In a P.I. story - the first initial is "Private," but does that second initial stand for Investigator, Eye - or I?

J.G. Ballard's intro to his classic novel CRASH, defending science fiction - a pulp genre - as legitimate literature. Expanding his argument to encompass other disrespected genres could serve as the thesis statement of PULP TODAY.