Pulp Books

If you're starting your experiments in paper marbling, this classic of the genre is a must-have. And at this price?! Wow!
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This book is comprised of short stories of the authors life. It is mostly of gay and lesbian lifestyles, but really appeals to everyone as it portrays situations ANYONE could be in. I especially liked the "Airport Terminal" story. As someone who has been on the Atkins diet before, this story really related to me. I also suggest it for any gay or lesbian teen who may be having difficulty with their sexuality as all the stories are positive about being out and coming out. I throughly enjoyed it. I bought it directly from the Author who was at a signing in my home town. The only reason it is not five stras is because it is a self published book and the cover and some of ther errors in text are noticable. All over good stories though. I enjoyed reading it.

While this book had its rough spots, it was very interesting and fair.

Ashley looks at the history of science fiction magazines from the origin of magazines themselves to 1950. There is an awful lot of interesting information here on how magazines developed differently in Britain and the US.

When Ashley gets to the 1926-50 era, he is marvellous when covering the major magazines. He avoids overt deification or demonization and seems quite even-handed when dealing with the "Shaver hoax." Also, he does not take the route that when John W. Campbell became editor of Astounding all the other magazines ceased to be of interest.

This is essential reading for those interested in the early development of science fiction.

A swashbuckling adventure written in the first person, this is a wonderful and exciting story taking place in the France of Louis XIII, and Cardinal Reichleu. De Berault, the main character, is a notorious duellist. He is arrested for for killing a man in a duel, despite the Cardinal's eddict against duelling. He is given a choice, either he hangs, or works as an agent for the Cardinal. Guess which he chooses...

This review really applies to Mansstory 2 and Androids 2 as well. Other than the specific genre, all three mags are of similar quality and are from the same publisher.

The mags are about 7"x8.5". The covers are a thick, glossy cardstock. Pages are good quality, heavy paper. A typical issue is about 60 pp. and is amply illustrated with commisioned art, most in full color, some B&W. Stories vary in length and there are typically 6-10 per issue.

The stories are generally along the lines of pulp fiction from the 1930's-'60's, with each mag focusing a particular type of story. Mansstory 2 is action/adventure, the others are obvious from their names.

The quality of the stories vary from pedestrian to good, with most being closer to the good end. Likewise the artwork. It should be noted that some of the stories are a bit "racy", but not dirty or pornographic. The artwork often features female nudity, (these are paintings, not photographs), consider it PG-13/R rated.

Well worth a look for fans of the genre, for both literary and artistic reasons.

When the book starts out in a post-Orwellian world in which everyone is taking off their Big Brother cameras and James Bond is working out of the Ministry of Love, you start to get into the groove of Alan Moore pulp fiction mashups that made the first two books in the series so great. It's a little uneasy at first since these are modern pulps and not the Victorian pulps which are so familiar from reprints and movie adaptations, but then the black dossier is opened and its a whole new experience.

Less emphasis on the framing story (James or Jimmy Bond is chasing after the two remaining survivors of the League and trying to seduce a woman who I should know from other pulps) puts the book squarely in the category of literary parody. And Alan Moore is having a great time. My personal favorite is the Cthulu meets Wodehouse passage in which Bertie Wooster encounters a Cthulu possessed man and figures that he's a bit of an odd duck going on about Cool Lulu and is only saved by Jeeves putting a call into the League. There are also beat poet passages, Fanny Hill bits, and an Elizabethan play about the formation of the first League under Queen Elizabeth. Orlando shows up throughout the book as do a host of other characters that you feel like you should know but probably don't.

And one of the frustrating parts of this book as opposed to the other books is that even though Alan Moore will not pander to the audience by stopping to explain who anyone is, in this book it's less likely that you'll know most of these characters beyond the obvious ones like James Bond and O'Brien from 1984.

Still this is a feast for the mind and the eyes and a worthy successor to the series.

What starts out as a reasonably entertaining chase story devolves at the end into a bizarre semi-surreal mush of overly articulated intellectual BS. Utterly unsatisfying followup to the excellent earlier books in the series.

It begins in the same vein as the earlier books, showing us an interesting world that is a mash-up of many different literary creations; but it is bogged down with long asides which, while sometimes interesting views on the world, do not advance the story at all. By the end it becomes a long exercise in exposition, and reads more like a college freshman's drug-inspired philosophy essay than the "ripping good yarn" I was anticipating.

Obviously Moore had something he wanted to do here. Sadly it wasn't very entertaining.

What you have here is just one big mess. I still cant figure out what the whole idea is here. It feels like the story is going along well, then it turns in page after page of Alan Moore just pulling silly League tales and other assorted messes out of thin air. The text ranges from readable to downright blinding in atrociousness. Theres actually pages with no punctuation and no paragraphs, which I'm sure some literary genius finds impressive but to most of us its just a big mess of nonsense.

Moore manages to take the characters and turn them into shadows of themselves in a convoluted mess of a tale that probably amuses some people but will probably turn off and bore half of the fans of the series. Lets face it, there is simply no other explanation for this tale than it being an excuse for Moore to indulge himself with 100s of literary easter eggs that even a well read English Professor would find utterly silly and over the top.

The movie was probably more in kind with the first two novels than this mess of a graphic novel. Its very expensive for what it is and I think anyone who wanted more of the same kind of tales we got in the first two books will be shocked at how far a stretch this is from that. Simply read the positive and glowing reviews here and they are enough to deter you from buying this book. Just listen to some of that utter nonsense and realize that there isn't enough time in your life to do enough drugs or take enough college English classes to find it in yourself to understand or enjoy what Moore did here.

When the remnants of Murray's League resurface in the 50's, the reader's in for a treat. Unlike the first two volumes, the prose in the Black Dossier isn't featured as an extra, but forms an integral part of the storyline and is thus intertwined with the comic sections. Subtle references at fiction from Homer to recent television make this a erudite and fascinating read, in which one can always discover something new. But that's not all. Moore's complex and sardonicly humouristic stories make him one of the best in the grapic novel genre.

I've been a fan of Alan Moore's work since the 80's. It was so much fun reading Miracleman, Swamp Thing, Watchmen etc. as they came out new each month.

I have recently re-introduced myself to comics and have enjoyed a lot of great work that has been produced over the past 20 years or so. I have read the first two volumes of 'League' and must say that this third volume is not only the best one - but one of the best comic-reading experiences I've ever had.

It's different. It's new - it invites the reader to explore a story from several different angles/mediums and thus enjoy a story in a new way. And really, it's a celebration of fantasy, science fiction and anything in literature that has pushed the envelope, from a thematic or story-telling perspective. The final poem at the end is a declaration of this celebration, and I defy you to not read it and smile.

Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill and Ben Dimagmaliw (who is the wonderful colorist and deserves his share in credits for this book) have continued on with the adventures of Mina, Quartermain and company in comic book fashion. They also include a serialized comic that was popular in England, sort of a picture-book approach (The Life of Orlando, which is a highlight and is intended as a reference to be used throughout the novel), a 'new' play by Shakespeare (Alan knocks it out of the park here, lots of fun), Beatnik style writing ala Ginsberg and Kerouac, and a merry-making ending that is in 3-D (this is the League in the Fabulous Fifties, after all!) and features an inspired and heartfelt poem at the end. In fact, I would say the poem is as heartfelt as anything I've ever read from Moore - and all you fans out there know that 'heartfelt' is a word not often used to describe his writing.

This is a story to read in several sittings, like a long novel. It's to be savored .. you can go back, look at something hinted at earlier, etc. Like Watchmen, there are a number of 'easter eggs' throughout this work, as and allusions abound. It's a graphic novel for folks who love reading! Especially if you love reading classic Science Fiction and Fantasy.

I applaud Alan Moore for making this and hopes he keeps stretching the medium and possibilities even farther. Alan - if you're reading this - good job! Keep going!

Bukowski begins the book with a dedication to bad writing... a category that I would not put Pulp into. To read this book and realize Bukowski was as old as he was when he wrote it and that it was his last book, is an amazing thing. I don't understand a single one of these negative reviews, they must not have understood what the book was about.
Pulp was Bukowski's final book and is unlike any of his previous ones, I wouldn't recommend it for Bukowski beginners, though it was the first book by him that I read.
Pulp is a funny story about a hardboiled detective who is contracted by Lady Death (Death incarnate, a sexy brunette) to track down the late author, Celine, who has somehow managed to escape and is hiding out as an insurance salesman. Along the way the main character, Nick Belane (a thinly disguised play on words inspired by pulp writer Micky Spillane) has a run in with an alien redhead and an unfaithful blonde, as well as a few punks and tough guys, who he dispatches with ease. Raymond Chandler eat your heart out. And what could be more fitting than for Belane to outwit Death with a drinking game.
Pulp should be read as more or less a comedy. While it is about a deep subject - Death, it's still very funny and in a way I believe that says something about Bukowski's view on life and death in general.
For Bukowski to spend his life writing semi autobiographical material and poems to express himself, I believe that Pulp being his final book and the fact that it is unlike all his others says something. I'm not exactly sure what, but it does.

If you're a fan of Buk, and you liked Post Office or Women or Factotum, then you'll probably HATE this book. It's truely awful. The writing is bad, is not funny, and has no real logic to it. I know that Buk was trying to write a parody novel of early detective stories, but I call this an experiment gone wrong. I don't know why the reviews are so good on this book. Don't buy this book.

After reading the excellent Ham on Rye I swore I'd get some more Bukowski, and for awhile I dabbled in alot of other things, but his poetry was among those. In a book store though, I stumbled upon this, it was among a few others of his works and I decided on it simply because I couldn't find a copy of Post Office there and didn't want to order one. It's dedicated to bad writing - I thought he being a critic to himself considering his negativity; but was proved wrong - this book can best be summed up as a piece of bad writing. The humor is trash, the parody is weak, and the dialogue is at most times kind've lame. Also, the plot all in all lacks much in itself, and although only in kidding (so to speak) it's not very funny as a whole. Though, it does have it's moments; sometimes it inspires some half-decent fits of laughter (although most of the humor is toilet) and the psuedo-philosophy Bukowski submits keeps it relatively enjoyable. As a comprehensive work though, it's kind've lame, it's readable, but Bukowski has FAR better. From what I've come to understand, this was somewhat the challenge to literary elitism, and I think he well made his point, but despite that, it's not that great a read. Maybe for the hardcore Bukowski fan, but even then, be prepared for a few laughs only, and to be sitting this book down with a resounding, 'Meh.'

I had heard it rumoured that Bukowski was an excellent writer, wasn't boring and would fit into the select material I love to read. I had a gift card, picked this one out, and read it in about eight hours. I couldn't put it down and have several of his other books on order; looking forward to it greatly. I'll spare you the details as secrets should not be divulged but this detective-esque novel has just about everything in it and it moves along quickly.

Bukowski's Pulp isn't nearly as good as his Ham on Rye, nor nearly as bad as Women. But it is, I think, his most reflective piece of prose writing--although, in typical Bukowski fashion, the depth is deliberately hidden.

On the down side, the book tends to repeat gags too frequently, characters are even less developed here than usual (for Bukowski), and the ending is so abrupt that the reader is tempted to think that the final twenty or so pages must be missing.

On the up side, though, the book is a really clever and at times hilarious spoof of the hard-boiled detective novel in which all the women characters are dames and dolls, the private dick is a cynical and rather seedy guy with a philosophical bent, and the clients are a mixture of improbably outlandish and all-too-ordinary characters (think of the mix in a typical Chandler novel). Dedicating his final effort to "bad writing," Bukowski is obviously having a ball trying to out-hard-boil the hard-boiled genre.

What's been overlooked by too many reviewers (here and elsewhere) is that the novel is also a swansong meditation on mortality. Bukowski must've either known or sensed, while he was writing it, that he was dying. There are too many ruminations about mortality in the novel--not to mention that one of the main characters, Lady Death, is Bukowski's version of the Grim Reaper--to be coincidental. Pulp is Bukowski's last chance to come to grips with an existence that he found dreary, sad, and rather sordid, and this novel is full of his reflections on life and death (e.g., pp. 57,89,99,127,135, and 150). The final scene, in which the main character Beltane dies and is absorbed by a "vast yellow vortex, more dynamic than the sun" (p. 202), is more evidence that death was clearly on Bukowski's mind when he wrote the book. It's unlike anything else in his prose.

Cleverly, Bukowski's philosophizing is expressed in the terse, tough-guy style that Chandler or Hammett have their heroes use: yet another way in which Bukowski spoofs the genre (and, probably, his own life too). But this doesn't take away from the poignant fact that Pulp is Bukowski's final reflection on mortality.

Great short humorous book about the changes relationships go through after marriage. Highly recommended for soon to be married men -and women!

Really, if you're having trouble in your marriage, this book probably won't help things much. According to the authors, it's perfectly okay for all married men to be a bunch of chauvinistic alcoholics who love to spend a lot of their free time "out with the guys" and shirk off as much reponsibilty as possible. "Men" who appear to have never truly grown into mature adults, who don't seem to make their wives or their marriage much of a priority. Well, I like to drink once in awhile but don't like to go out much, and also find that women can be just as cool to hang around with as men, so it doesn't seem I fit into the authors' perception of what a normal guy is. Yeah, the book's good for a few laughs, and explains all kinds of ways to lie to your wife, pretty much making her into one big dupe as you go constantly out-scheme and out-maneuver her. But this is the real world, guys. A lot of the thought and "advice" in this book are really just downright ridiculous. It's hard to believe that any intelligent man would be expected to take this stuff seriously; it feels more like a book you'd find in the humor section. It just doesn't get to the core(s) of the problem, and some of the ideas look like they could even do more harm than good in the long run. In my situation, I learned my wife was acting like a "mommy" because of self esteem issues. I learned that I had to stop thinking of myself so much and give her the attention she deserves by listening (really listening) to her more and complimenting her more and speaking calmly and rationally when tempted to fight with her. Oh, I'm "whipped" you say? No, but we're both a lot happier. She has more confidence in herself and she's doesn't feel the need to act so much like a "mommy" anymore. But your situation might be different, like you, the husband, may be the one needing more self-confidence. Go read the downloadable book by Katie Zaltman if you need help in your marriage or even if you're about to get married. She very quickly gets to the point, doesn't pull any punches, plus she's funny as hell. Very easy to follow and utilize. I noticed a positive and dramatic change in my marriage after reading just the first ten pages (out of 150)! Reading "Married to Mommy?" did not help at all. It only sympathizes with your situation and can be pretty funny, but it doesn't help you change for the better. Also, at the end of "Married to Mommy?" it says that neither of the authors happens to be married to a "mommy." What!!? Yeah, I don't get it either.

I brought this book with me last week (July 20, 2005) to read during my free time while acting as a responsible adult at boy scout camp. Ohmygod. While well-written and funny (at times), it put a knot in my stomach. I started bumming out. I mean, they hit it on the head on almost every point.

To me, this wasn't funny, it was horrifying. If I were single and saw this happening to my friends, perhaps I'd have seen more humor in it, but after 14 years of marriage, this did nothing but remind me of my situation.

As I sat with the scouts, whittling, belching, and generally being guys, it only hurt more. If that's not enough, on Friday, it was "family night" and in marched the mommies. My wife was instantly trying to clean out our son's tent. I stopped her. Another kid made some comment about it not being as great as he thought it would be, and one of the other mommies was psychoanalyzing him on the spot. I stopped her, too.

I'm seriously considering signing up for another week of scout camp, and I'm going to use "Married to Mommy" as tinder for my campfire.

(heavy sigh)

This book hits a nerve and the funny bone at the same time! I've never laughed so loud! These guys have almost too much fun with an otherwise dark and scary topic - the "Nuptial Netherworld"! Every friend I've recommended it to can't thank me enough. Everyone - man or woman - should get this book and then personally thank the "Professors"!!!

This book had both my wife and I laughing (and learning) all the way through. This book brings many serious topics out in the open for discussion in a humorous and light-hearted manner. I recommend it to married and soon to be married couples as a good read and a life long, truly funny reference guide.

Thanks! When's the sequel coming?

This book is very comprehensive in covering both the scientific and clinical aspects of endodontics. While the detail may be overwhelming for many general dentists, it is an invaluable resource for those interested in gaining a more in depth understanding of the underlying principles and practical ins and outs of performing endodontic therapy. Great for training and practicing endodontists.

Well written, easy to read, nausiating detail but that is a good thing for a text book.

I've never fall asleep reading a book. I fell asleep ready this book twise. BORING!!
It sure is wordy and waistful. I am an average "A-" student and usually don't critize any book but this one I felt that I waisted my money. Content is disorganized. WORDY. This book makes me hate dentistry because of so much garbage is in it, not enough content...
Don't buy this one, you'll regred.

This is an excellent book with both practical steps and the theoritical background.I'm amazed that some of reviewers are complaining about the book being too theoritical, too wordy or too scientific. I assume that the reviewers are dentists,I'm certainly a dentist, and was also an A student. If a dentist has no interest in the science behind the procedure and finds it "wordy and too detailed", the question would be why did they become a dentist in the first place? After all, we are supposed to be scientists too. This book is written by fine practicing clinicians who also happen to be very knowlegable scientists.
Any dentist with passion for dentistry will find this book worth every penny.

once again, a fantastic text. A great test for endodontic board certification and any endodontist, but the information is too detailed I believe for the general dentist, although it should be able to answer any question the general dentist should have on endodontics.

I have enjoyed the playfulness and joy of Sheri-D Wilson for many years now. She takes poetry to a new place!

This woman simply has no talent. Don't waste your money or your time on anything she's written. It's pretentious, eye-rolling, cringingly awful crap. Even this woman's name irritates me. Shame on anyone that would recommend this garbage to another human being.

I bought this book before there were any reviews on it. With the reviews I have seen so far I would have probably purchased it. If you are stuck in the 60's and still read poems aloud to bongo's, then this is the book for you. I found it bizzare, ludicrous, absurd, a waste of money not to mention a total waste of time. It was a complete dissappointment when I opened it.

Ms. Wilson takes an often taboo subject and tackles it with professionalism and taste. She is playful is her prose, yet carries a strong, direct message which gets the point across. Skillfully mastered, she gets down to business quickly and achieves full results. She is excellent at her craft. I learned a lot.

To the reader from USA, who bought this book before there were any reviews about it: You are disappointed because you bought the book based on it's title, and you are correct, as a guide to giving head, it's not very informative. As a work of art, however, it stands among the best poetry I have ever seen in the beat, jazz. surrealist genre. I wish you the best of luck finding your manual and much success in your endeavors in improving your sex life.