Will popular fiction outlast our literary writers? Otto Penzler (owner of the fabulous Mysterious Bookshop) thinks so, writing a review of Nostalgia Ventures republication of classic Shadow novels by Walter B. Gibson--the man who turned out a million words a year.
Penzler argues that Gibson's heroic, suspenseful novels stuck in readers' minds for much longer than the writers who won National Book Awards in the 1930's.
I gotta disagree a little bit, especially since because nominees Jim Shepard and Denis Johnson are students of pulp fiction. Like many of my favorite literary writers, they mined currents of popular fiction for pacing, vivid imagery, and inspiration. Check it out:
"None of these favorites of the literary establishment have approached the staying power of their contemporary pulp fiction writers — an eloquent negation of the significance of the academics and critics who relentlessly chastise the American reading public for preferring the storytelling qualities of their inferiors."
Nevertheless, we share Penzler's love for pulp fiction--just look back at our Paul Malmont archives for some web video-ized writing advice about popular and literary fiction. Then check out the new paperback edition of The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril--in that book, you actually meet Gibson as a literary fiction hero.
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