The Paperback Show Podcast

Show Notes The history of paperbacks is the history of paperback fiction primarily. Little research has been done on the non-fiction side of paperback publishing. I decided to include non-fiction as part of the Paperback Show to address this missing history. Episode 8 covers the history of the Film Guide primarily focusing on the study of a specific film. The show is divided into two parts: first, I cover the rise of the film paperback in the fifties culminating in the granddaddy of film studies, the BFI Film Classics series in paperback, and the subsequent growth of individual film studies which is represented by the Cultographies series of film guides, secondly, I bring in two guests, Kim Vodicka and Cody Goodfellow, to discuss their Cultographies book choice. Kim chose Ms 45, a 1981 film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Zoe Lund. Cody chose Danger: Diabolik, a 1968 film directed by Mario Bava starring John Phillip Law and Marisa Mell.  Film Guide Paperbacks Penguin was prob...

Paperbacks of Dashiell Hammett began in the late 1930s according to my research. Albatross edition of Maltese Falcon looks to have been published in the mid-1930s. Of course, Dell and Pocket Books started publishing Hammett in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Of course, after the famous John Houston adaptation of The Maltese Falcon appeared in 1941, paperback editions of Hammett took off. A full list can be found in Warren's Official Paperback Price Guide. I like the later 1960's versions of Hammett covers because they are designed so well. The UK editions are interesting, too. The Penguin paperback with the bulldog on the cover is pretty neat. More recent versions of Hammett (mostly in trade paperback form) either use crime photos or graphic design on the covers. I think I prefer the graphic design covers.

Show Notes Although Hammett is a major influence in mystery fiction, his novels and stores (with the sole exception of The Maltese Falcon) are often left unread. It's a shame because they all hold up well even in 2022. I urge you to get one of Hammett's paperback novels and just sit down and read. Believe me, they will entertain you. Red Harvest (his first novel) might be a good place to start if you've never read him.  This podcast was several months in the making. My thanks to Richard Brewer for sharing his thoughts on The Glass Key with me. He is a delight to converse with.  I took most of the biographical information on Hammett from Nolan's excellent Shadow Man biography, but also from a lesser know biography by Sally Cline called Dashiell Hammet: Man of Mystery. A word of warning: many biographies suffer from the heavy hand of Lillian Hellmen who spun her own mythology of Dashiell Hammett, most of it made to make her (and him) look good.  Another outstanding work, ...