A Review of Tommy Hancock’s Yesteryear by Andrew Salmon
Disclaimer: Tommy Hancock is one of the creators of the New Pulp website.
One of New Pulp’s claims to fame is that time is no longer a factor when it comes to crafting pulp tales. Back in the Golden Age, writers typed until their fingers bled, racing the clock with deadlines looming. Today, New Pulp authors have the freedom to craft stories that are a little more complex than those written in a white heat and on the fly. There’s a chance to explore pulp worlds and characters and you’ll seldom find it done better than in Tommy Hancock’s YESTERYEAR.
The novel is a compelling read and one you won’t soon forget. Its episodic structure of pulp and superhero origin and adventure tales set around a unifying tell-all book makes the novel a standout in the burgeoning New Pulp field.
Yes, you heard that right, superheroes. Now some pulp fans might wonder what superheroes are doing in a pulp novel and while reading the book one might get the impression that this is more of a superhero prose work than a straight up pulp thriller. The point is a valid one but considering that the classic pulp characters of the Golden Age gave birth to the superheroes that came after, the novel’s historic sweep allows it to fall neatly into both categories, bridging the gap between pulp prose and comics.
As the novel deals with the main plot: the lengths some of these adventurers are willing to take to prevent the book’s publication, Hancock also treats us to numerous excerpts from the controversial work. Heroes rise and fall, alliances are formed and broken while drastic, deadly measures are taken to keep the manuscript from the public eye.
Some might find the jumping around from different time periods to the present day distracting or confusing but a careful read will smooth out these rough spots. Also, Hancock uses different fonts and writing styles to convey the shifts and this reader thought these worked very well. My only knock about this aspect of the novel is that there are a few too many time jumps and that some can be jarring. It’s a great narrative technique but occasionally it is overused here and the whole lacks an overlying cohesion. As this is Hancock’s first novel, one expects these odd rough spots, and occasional wordiness, will be smoothed out in future works.
While on the topic of criticism, this reader found the interior illustrations by Peter Cooper amateurish. With apologies to Mr. Cooper, the art is weak at best and does not measure up to the level of the writing. The cover by Jay Piscopo is striking although it, too, is out of place, seeming better suited to a graphic novel than a prose work, which could confuse readers new to the work.
Criticisms aside, YESTERYEAR is one of the best New Pulp releases of the year and I urge readers to give the book a try. It not only provides an atypical reading experience but also brings a fresh look at classic pulp fiction and superheroes. Hancock has crafted an engaging, refreshing work chock full of ideas, well drawn characters, and action galore. Pick it up, it is well worth your time.
TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock
THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSE FARMER, VOLUME TWO-OF DUST AND SOUL Written by Various Edited by Michael Croteau Published by Meteor House 2011
First, yes, this one is a bit late, a day or two past Wold Newton Day, my apologies.
And I sort of have to apologize a second time because this review is going to sound familiar as it is similar to the review of the two books I did discuss on December 13. But when great follows great, there’s not a lot else to say.
OF DUST AND SOUL is the second volume of THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSE FARMER series from Meteor House. Founded in essence to share Farmer’s works and his insights with today’s readers and to commemorate an imagination like no other, Meteor House strove to put together in these volumes tales indicative of Farmer’s wide swath of genres, storytelling techniques, and just an almost omniscient grasp of the literary form on several levels. Also, Meteor House brings into these volumes essays, mostly scholarly in nature but some very personal reminisces of Farmer the man himself as well as his influence. Now, that is my interpretation of Meteor House’s mission and such from observation and conversation with others. IF I’m anywhere near right, then OF DUST AND SOUL is yet another triumphant step toward that goal in a big way.
OF DUST AND SOUL explores Farmer’s Worlds in a couple of interesting ways. To sum it up best, this collection looks at what makes a being a being and why what beings believe in drive them the directions they go. This collection contains quite a bit of Farmer’s own work, including pitches to publishers and stories. This is a really solid look into the inner workings of this literary icon, how he functioned in his own philosophy and how he survived the philosophies of others.
This collection also brings together people who have an affinity for Farmer, but also skills of essaying and fiction crafting in their own rights. That’s one of the strengths of Farmer’s prolific production. It’s inviting to others, its a universe of many worlds that other talented people want to play and work and thrive in. By far the best piece in the book, Kwasin and The Bear God by Farmer and Christopher Paul Carey illustrates that better than anything I’ve ever seen.
THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSE FARMER: OF DUST AND SOUL is not only a commemoration of a man and his impact, but its the doorway into the myriads of his imagination.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF HANCOCK’S HAT-Most excellent indeed.
Every item in the Philip José Farmer Estate Sale is now 20% off and 25% of all sales through December 15, 2011 will be donated to Magick 4 Terri!
Four days ago we announced here that 25% of all sales through December 15, 2011 would be donated to Magick 4 Terri. So far the response has been. . .underwhelming to say the least. But we think we know the problem. When you go to the Estate Sale page, the first item you see, a rare signed hardcover of A Feast Unknown costs $450, and the next book is a $100 paperback!
So we’d like to take a moment to point out that while there are very expensive books: $4,500 for The Lake Regions of Central Africa: Volumes 1 and 2 (1860) by Sir Richard Francis Burton, or $1,500 for a signed harcover first edition of Farmer’s The Fabulous Riverboat for examples, there are many affordable books as well.
There are over forty different titles under $50, many of them signed paperbacks, and other cool stuff like this:
Charles M. Doughty. Travels In Arabia Deserta. Heritage Press, 1953. Hard Cover. Near Fine hardcover in slipcase. Decorated beige linen cloth binding, pictorial endpapers, map, illustrated throughout by Edy Legrand. Introduction by T.E. Lawrence. $40.00
Nothing Burns in Hell. Advance Uncorrected Proof. Trade Paperback. Near Fine From the estate of Philip José Farmer. Advanced Uncorrected Proof in Near Fine condition. One of three author copies. These copies are NOT signed. $30.00
Dark is the Sun. Blackstone Audio, Multiple copies of this new audio book were sent to Philip José Farmer’s heirs. This unabridged audio book is 14.5 hours on 12 cds. We’re selling these for about half of the list price. Five author copies are currently available for $30 each.
There are almost another seventy titles between $50 and $100 that would make a great gift for any science fiction fan:
Forrest J Ackerman (ed), Best Science Fiction for 1973. Very Good+ Signed by Philip José Farmer on page 56. Contains a reprint of the short story “Seventy Years of Decpop.” $50.00
Byron Preiss (ed), Weird Heroes Vol 1. Very Good+ Signed by Philip José Farmer on page 194. Contains the first publication of the short story “Greatheart Silver in Showdown at Shootout.” $60.00
Robert Frazier (ed), Burning with a Vision: Poetry of Science and the Fantastic. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+ Signed by Philip José Farmer on page 52. Contains a reprint of the poem, “The Pterodactyl.” $75.00
Fritz Leiber, Ervool. Roanoke: Chapbook. Very Good+ Pictorial wrapper. First edition. Number 158 of 200 numbered copies signed by Leiber on special limitation page. This publication was prepared for distribution at the Sixth World Fantasy Convention in Baltimore, Maryland, October, 1980. $75.00
Brian Ash (ed), The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Oversized Paperback. Very Good+ Signed “Property of Philip José Farmer” on the first page and signed again on page 223 at his entry on Religion and Myths. $85.00
You get the idea — and don’t forget, now everything is 20% off! — but only through December 15th.
So, do yourself, and more importantly Terri, a favor, and spend a little time browsing the list. There is bound to be something you suddenly realize you can’t live without.
TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock
THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSE FARMER:PROTEAN DIMENSIONS Edited by Michael Croteau Written by Various Meteor House 2010
“The world is not such a lonely place as it once was.”
This, the opening sentence to Paul Malmont’s foreword to Meteor House’s THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSE FARMER: PROTEAN DIMENSIONS, expresses a sentiment that many of us feel because of Philip Jose Farmer. A man who took the stories he loved and not only wrote his own tales inspired by what he loved, but took the characters he cherished and added, molded, and in many cases breathed brand new life into them, making them viable, visible, and exciting to those of us eating up his stories like pigeons on breadcrumbs.
PROTEAN DIMENSIONS is the perfect expression of Farmer’s impact on the world as well as proof that Farmer truly proved that we, people who enjoy fiction and academic discussion and theorizing and world building, are not alone in this world. The book features works by Farmer as well as those inspired by him, even some who had the opportunity to work with him during his career. Lost essays, long missing pieces of fiction, and even new tales inspired by the wonders Farmer rendered fill each page of this simply and nicely designed volume. As previously stated, I’m not enough of an academic to criticize scholarship, but based on my experience as a historian, the work put into the essays is sufficient and successful. The fiction is also top notch, both what Farmer produced and what he inspired.
If this review seems to be filled with adoration, then you’re reading it the right way. But it’s as much adoration for the work that went into it as it is for the man it’s about. I have seen no volume, except for maybe the sequel to this one and its predecessor, MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE, dedicated to any creator that does such a good job of pointing out the whole picture of the man, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of his work, and most assuredly putting the best people possible on paying dedication and tribute to who and what Philip Jose Farmer was.
GLAMOUR JOB By Doug Farrell BookSurge Publishing 484 pages ISBN – 10: 141967496X ISBN – 13: 9781419674969 Release date – Sept 21, 2007 (fantasy – adventure – pulp) No Contact Data
About the Author – Doug Farrell has been a professional actor most of his adult life and spent several years performing comedy a Los Angeles improve troupe. He’s married to his best friend Ellen and raising three remarkable children with her. He taught college classes, was a vegetarian chef and installed home theaters. Recently at night he’s been a guide for ghost tours, telling Savannahs’ paranormal stories to people from around the world. This is his first novel.
Every now and then, I trip over a book that’s really hard to describe genre-wise and this is such a case. It’s a madcap adventure that falls somewhere between fantasy, slapstick comedy and social satire. That all these elements mix effectively and in the end produce a heady concoction of genuine adult delight is a testament to Farrell’s own imagination in brewing what he aptly describes as “A Fairy-tale for Grown-ups.”
The set up deals with a fairy war that occurred in another dimension wherein the goblin race lost and was forced to flee to our world, arriving in 1947, two years after the end of World War II. Convincing certain human scientist to help them, the goblins invented special disguises that allowed them to go undetected in our world and for decades walked among humans, some even interbreeding with them. Ultimately the same scientists who developed these sophisticated camouflages saw the potential for monetary wealth by using the same formulas to create beauty aids for human women. They create Glamorine, a Chicago based million dollar cosmetic empire built on the results of these techniques and certain globin magics.
The book’s theme plays with duel definitions of the word glamour. The first being a quality of fascinating, alluring, or attracting, especially by a combination of charm and good looks. It also means magic or enchantment; spell; witchery.
The protagonist is super model and the face of Glamorine, Laurie Morgan, whose grandfather was one of the scientist who created the company. As the story opens Laurie has become disillusioned by her near perfect life and is in the process of divorcing her loving husband, Nick. Laurie is suffering from ennui unable to explain her own dissatisfaction and believes she’s become trapped in a dull, boring routine of existence. No sooner is the divorce granted then she is contacted by a blue gnome name Hawley disguised as a little girl. He warns Laurie that her life is in danger. As if confronting an actual blue dwarf weren’t enough, Laurie begins to running into women throughout Chicago who looked exactly like her.
As paranoia begins to set in, Hawley explains that there is a goblin revolution in the works. After decades of living in secrecy amongst mankind, a group of goblin leaders have concocted a scheme to take control of Glamorine and replace its board of directors, including Laurie and her grandfather, with phony disguised goblins. Once they’ve achieved this end, they plan on poisoning the cosmetics produced to Glamorine to eliminate all of mankind and take over the Earth.
Needless to say having an army of vicious goblins out to do her in is more than enough motivation to snap Laurie out of her malaise and back into living at full tilt if only to stay alive. Before the book’s conclusion arrives, she will have been held prisoner in an underwater complex below Lake Michigan, met and been devoured by a fire breathing dragon and allied herself with tiny pig-fairies only she can see. “Glamour Job” is a rollicking tale that never lets up and is filled with satirical jabs at how we treasure a make-believe beauty that is simply an illusion devised by Fifth Avenue to milk millions from starry eyed little girls all wanting to grow up and become runway princesses. But do be warned, this is only the first chapter in a trilogy and the ending does come somewhat abruptly.
We also note by the print date that “Glamour Job” is four years old. All the more reason to seek it out as it might have flown under your radar. Urban fantasy isn’t one of this reviewer’s most favorite genres, but “Glamour Job” has enough action muscle to sustain it for even the most jaded pulp reader. If you are looking for something truly different and fun, you would be hard press to do much better than this book.
The world in general and the Popular Art and Pulp Community in specific lost a shining talent and unique voice on Thursday, December 8th, 2011. David Burton, an artist known for various works, including several Edgar Rice Burroughs inspired works, Comic based images, as well as original work for Publishers of all varieties, passed away this past Thursday. Although details are not readily available, David had had a series of health issues, most recently being considered for a heart transplant. While at home on the 8th, something occurred that caused David to have to re-enter the hospital and he left this world later that day.
At times like these, the only thing that many of us who knew David and even those who only knew him through his work have to comfort us are our thoughts and memories of him and the love and support of those around us. What follows is a collection of remembrances and commemorations collected in the last few hours, both sent directly to All Pulp as well as some simply taken from where they were originally posted. If you didn’t know David, then read on please and discover one of those talents that definitely left us just as his star was rising. If you were fortunate enough to have even known him for a moment, then join the rest of us who did in remembering and recalling and even in mourning, though the actual feeling is more of rejoicing….rejoicing that I even got to know David for a brief second and the positive ways he affected so many that he touched.
First, my own thoughts- I met David via Facebook, the wonders of social networking. I was looking for cover artists to capture that feel of classic Pulp covers, particularly for one project we were debuting in our magazine. I came across David’s stuff about the same time he came across our ad looking for someone. I’m not sure how we connected, but we did indeed and from that instant, David immediately became concerned for me. Not simply the project, but for my well being. He asked about my family, talked about the other writers in the magazine, asked how I came to be a writer, all of that. We talked about favorite foods, movies, etc. and in between these blasts of personal ‘get to know’ time that actually is somewhat unusual from an artist who you’re initially contracting with for just one piece, David would send these wonderful snippets…a pencil layout here, a color study there….until finally the finished piece was completed. The job done, I thanked David, paid him, and went on. But I didn’t go on alone. David talked of other projects, but mostly just checked in as if we were buddies, which I quickly realized we most definitely were that…friends.
We never got to do more work together because David’s medical issues reared their ugly visages about then and he didn’t get back to a point to take on much work. The one regret I have is that when David emailed me a few months back and said he thought he was ready to take on work, even though it would need to be single figure type stuff, I didn’t make more effort to give him work, only because I wanted him to feel better and to get even stronger. It’s not the art that didn’t get created that I’m remorseful for now. It’s the fact that I didn’t get another chance to spend that much time with David again. Godspeed, David.
From Danny and Heather Kelley-
We have known David Burton for some years now. He was a great friend one who we came to call our Brother. His art work was so amazing, we modeled for several pieces of his art for him. One particular piece will always be my favorite. I had a photo taken of me in Metropolis , Ill at the Superman celebration a few years back of me as Superman and a little girl who had came up to me. David wanted to paint it and it came out amazing. He made two of it one for me and another to donate to a charity auction in Metropolis .We spoke on the phone and emailed each other frequently. He was a amazing talent and a very humble kind person. He would get so excited and get us excited every time he saw a new pic of us he wanted to draw. It was always like Christmas waiting to see what he would come up with. With his passing it leaves a empty place in our lives as I am sure with countless others he touched with his art. But his memory will live on with us through the art works we have on our wall from him.. David we love you and will miss you my dear friend. I know you will be painting the skies in Heaven.
David was a wonderful talent and a fine interpreter of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ creations. Over the years he shared so many fine pieces of art with us for our ERBzine readers:
David will be sadly missed by his many friends and by the many fans of his work.
From Ron Hanna-
Back in 2006, David sent me an e-mail when I lost my cat, and he even wrote a Poem especially for me… I would like to share this with you… I loved him: Dear Ron, I can understand this all too well. Not long ago, my cat Muse had to be put to rest for the same thing. The loss is never easy and shouldn’t be. Just remember that she’s always going to be around you and that she loves you. Dearest friend Who’s been my World I shall never hold you And feel your warmth Yet I shall always know That you are near For your warmth Now has a place That I had never known But forever is now Ahead For we are on our way Do not fear My dearest friend
For we shall someday Meet And know that all Was for us And we shall have Ever the tomorrows That have yet to be This warmth That I now hold So dear I shall never let go For I know it place My heart Is no longer its home But my life is its home For you have brought Not but love To it
From Mary Fabian-
Rest in Peace, my friend. Let your artist pen draw everlasting beauty over the stars. May our Lord hold your family in His Loving arms.
From Ver Curtiss-
I cannot adequately express my sadness at the news of David Burton’s passing. David was a true friend, an amazing artist, and an incredible human being. He was truly a brother, though we never met face to face. I hope we will have that opportunity to meet some day in a better place than this beautiful but fallen world of ours. He will be truly missed.
From Dough Hubler-
A sweet and dear friend has passed and I want to honor and remember. David Burton, a gifted artist, a child of God, and a brother! Godspeed and rest in His arms, David! We’ll see each other again!
From Andy Nunez-
David was an amazing artist and new some of the most influential paperback and comic illustrators of our time. He always encouraged me to go beyond my abilities with each piece of artwork I turned out for my books. His heart was bad and he was in line for a transplant. He had to go to the hospital today and he did not return. I can only pray I meet him again beyond this existence.
These and many other tributes and remembrances and dedications to the life, work, and memory of David Burton are sprouting all over in the last several hours and will likely continue for years to come. When one such as David passes, it’s hard for us not to see it as a loss, but we also scored a major victory just having David as a part of our lives.
HORROR IN GOLD, the new Doc Savage novel from Will Murray and Altus Press, opens with one of the best Doc first chapters ever. It’s a real humdinger. The rest of the book’s not too bad, either.
Once I really got into the story, that old comforting feeling of visiting with Doc and his amazing aides swept over me. That’s one of the highest compliments that I can pay Murray; it’s like coming home to read one of his modern Doc tales. As many of you well know, it’s almost impossible to divine where Lester Dent ends and Will Murray begins, or vice versa. HORROR IN GOLD is no exception, and I believe it will please even the most discriminating Doc enthusiasts.
When I was give the advance pdf of the book to read, one of the things I hoped lurked within its pages was one of the great super villains of old – and, lo and behold, I got it. Complete with a so-called “infernal device,” the book’s villain is larger-than-life, an improvement on the adversaries who populated THE DESERT DEMONS, Murray’s previous Doc tome.
Special notice should also be given to the author’s use of Long Tom here, not exactly the most popular of the aides; just wait until you check out the specialized use for Long Tom’s false teeth. It sounds goofy on the surface, but its just one of many fun bits that Murray includes. Monk and Ham are, of course, predominant in HORROR IN GOLD and just when I thought I had had just a bit too much of their incessant bickering – Murray almost never lets up on the gas on that score – the two men have one of the very best scenes in the book, an atypical moment that sticks with me long after I finished the story. And you can’t beat Monk being compared to Alley Oop, either.
Doc Savage here is the classic Doc of legend and gets right in to the thick of the troubles almost immediately. I also have to not that the while THE DESERT DEMONS plunked itself down squarely on the west coast, HORROR IN GOLD is very much a New York City adventure and Doc’s fabulous headquarters is put to very good use. It becomes almost a real place through Murray’s many scenes set therein. There’s also a fantastic section with the “go-devil” car, as Monk calls it, and a very, very unfortunate criminal. Top-notch stuff.
One of the things I love most about the original pulps is there use of the language of their times – slang, to be precise. Murray creates a reasonable facsimile of that here, especially with what spills out of Monk’s mouth. One phrase in particular that’s used as an exclamation – “I’ll tell a man!” – fascinates me, as I had never heard it before. And then, of course, there are the archaic spellings, like “to-day” and the book’s illusion of the 1930s is complete.
Alas, Pat Savage has something akin to a brief cameo, but I thoroughly enjoyed Murray’s use of Lea Aster, Monk’s secretary. In fact, after this, I would be very eager to see here again and again in this new Doc era.
Are there any caveats to my enthusiasm for HORROR IN GOLD? Perhaps only that it breaks away a little too abruptly towards the end to a completely new location and characters that don’t populate the bulk of the narrative. But, Will Murray rolls out the pulp action so smoothly and so in line with Lester Dent’s sensibilities that any gripes become minor quibbles when the entire package is looked at as a whole.
In all, HORROR IN GOLD whets my appetite for more – which is a good thing.
Tippin’ Hancock’s Hat-Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock
FUN & GAMES by Duane Swierczynski Mulholland Books 287 Pages Published June 2011
The debate is settled. The argument is over. The conundrum has been solved.
There can be New Pulp that satisfies all sides of the ‘Classic Feel versus Modern Relevance’ discussion that some of us have been involved with for a tentful of Sundays. Yes, the perfect expression of New Pulp does exist in between two covers, Virginia.
Duane Swierczynski, noted author and comic scribe, released “the first of three explosive Pulp thrillers” this past June under the title FUN & GAMES. And I’ll tell you, it’s definitely both. Swierczynski hits all the points that Pulp has to hit to be Pulp. Even with that, though, he presents us not with a perfect hero, but one replete with flaws, weaknesses, and scars. Charlie Hardie’s inherent goodness, however, is the perfect part of him, the piece that even when he himself doubts it, does not crumble and break away. This gives him the steel and nerve he needs to be the perfect Pulp hero.
Hardie, as he’s introduced, is a Housesitter on his way to sit the house of a major player in the movie business. A few years prior, he’d been a ‘consultant’ of sorts for the Philadelphia Police Department and used various skills to help his best friend end some of the crime and corruption in the city. Tragically, Charlie’s best friend and family are killed when Charlie is basically set up to birddog them for the bad guys. Nearly killed himself (he earns the nickname Unkillable Chuck because it seems like he’s almost impossible to kill. He earns that nickname time and again in this book), Charlie makes sure his own wife and child are protected and dives headfirst into a bottle and the life of a housesitting gypsy, which is how he ends up in LA in FUN & GAMES.
The book opens with a B movie actress with quite a history of wild times and drug use racing in her car around the twisted back roads of LA, another car in hot pursuit. She’s sure they are trying to kill her, but it simply might be coincidence. Until she’s rear ended and someone approaches her and sticks a syringe in her arm. She stumbles off the road and out of sight.
Hardie gets to his current assignment, has issues getting in as the key left for him is gone, and is stabbed almost immediately in the chest by a mike stand being projected at him from a somewhat high, beaten up, dirty but beautiful lady hiding in the house. As she rambles about a group of people trying to kill her and make it look like an accident and how she barely escaped after they rear ended her and drugged her with something, Hardie has to decide rather quickly how to handle all of this. Why? Because the people who are trying to kill the actress are already outside the house and determined to get in.
Much of FUN & GAMES takes place IN the house. It feels very much like a compact version of Die Hard as Hardie and his new charge fight with each other, then the baddies just to stay alive. Once the action moves beyond the domicile, it amps up even more. The pacing of this book is frenetic, but well focused and controlled. Swierczynski knows each and every character inside and out and this allows him to inject them into this breakneck, high octane ride that he’s concocted around one of the coolest concepts I’ve seen in fiction lately.
That concept? The bad guys. Good Pulp needs Great Villains and Swierczynski gives Hardie the best. An organization nicknamed ‘the Accident People’ by the actress they’re pursuing is actually a well peopled, extremely connected group that essentially deals with people, especially celebrities, when they become a problem for someone with enough funds to pay the Accident People. Overdoses, suicides, car accidents, all the tragic things that befall people in the limelight are basically due to the manipulations and machinations of the Accident People. Filled with mostly directors, actors, and others from the film industry, this group approaches each job like a movie, insuring the narrative goes the destructive way they want it to. At every turn, Hardie finds victory only to get handed more defeat by the director of the narrative he fell into, a lady by the name of Mann. The Accident People are clearly a great template for what Pulp Villains should be.
Equally, Hardie is a perfect example of a New Pulp Hero. An angel by no means, Hardie wars with himself as much as he does the villains after him. He’s definitely in a pit of despair and destruction and doesn’t really climb out of it before the book ends. But he is clearly heroic. He will not admit he’s an expert in anything, but he does have what he refers to as his ‘lizard brain’, something that he relies on when he simply cannot easily get out of a situation. This innate primal instinct turns Charlie into a juggernaut of terror against any who stand in his way.
FUN & GAMES simply is the best example of New Pulp at its best I have ever read. The beginning of the book will jar you, the ending will blow you away…and force you to go out and get the second one.
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