Category Archives: Lit

Rediscovered: The Underworld Years

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Don

Let’s ease gently from Biography Month into LitCrit Month. . . . In the intro to their bio on Jim Tully, Bauer and Dawidziak have this statement: Frank Scully, who knew Tully better than anyone, had a warning for any … Continue reading →

Posted in Lit, Willeford | Tagged Dr. Sam: Johnson, Frank Scully, H. L. Mencken, Jack Dempsey, Jack London, James Boswell, Jim Tully, Mark Dawidziak, Muhammad Ali, Paul J. Bauer, The American Mercury, Waldo Frank |

Rediscovered: The Life of Jim Tully

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Don

If you’ve got about an hour and twenty minutes free, the above video will give you a great crash course in Jim Tully. It features cover images of his various books, lots of still photos, even film clips of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Film, Lit, Willeford | Tagged Beggars of Life, Boris Karloff, Brown Derby, Charlie Chaplin, Dillinger, Jack Black, Jack Dempsey, James Cagney, Jim Tully, John Barrymore, John Gilbert, Lon Chaney Sr., Louise Brooks, Mark Dawidziak, Paul J. Bauer, The Underworld Years, Wallace Beery |

Rediscovered: The Shiel Biographies

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Don

By this time last year I had poked my way through the first two of three projected volumes covering the life of M. P. Shiel, and happened to bump into Vince Emery while I was reading along. “Give me one … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Lit | Tagged Arthur Machen, H. G. Wells, Harold Billings, Humanities Research Center, Including Murder, M. P. Shiel, Redonda, Vince Emery |

Hammett: “Great Stuff”

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Don

Last Wednesday I got together for lunch with Nathan Ward, who was in Frisco doing research for his upcoming biography of Hammett — from birth up till around 1933, I think it is, with heavy concentration on the detective and pulp-writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News | Tagged "From the Memoirs of a Private Detective", Brooklyn Eagle, James D. Horan, Nathan Ward, Smart Set, Terry Zobeck |

Posse McMillan: DMac vs. Zombies

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Don

While I think the actual life of Dennis McMillan is interesting enough, especially if you’ve got your noir or absurd on, I realised awhile back that a shadow life of Dennis in fiction was developing — don’t know for certain if it … Continue reading →

Posted in DMac, Lit | Tagged "The Whosis Kid", Book Collecting, Charles Fischer, Gary Phillips, George Pelecanos, Measures of Poison, Michael Connelly |

Hammett: James, Joyce

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Don

Tough one — this post from frequent Guest Blogger Terry Zobeck could be held over till August for LitCrit Month — nothing is more LitCrit than James Joyce and Finnegans Wake, right??? — or just popped online right now during … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Lit | Tagged Butch Cassidy, James D. Horan, Jesse James, Liberty Book Club, Library of Congress, PM, Richard Layman, Stefan Heym, Terry Zobeck, The Forum, Upton Sinclair, Wild Bunch |

Posse McMillan: CrumDog Speaks

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Don

The magazine Contrappasso is going a little interactive. You now can read the piece of autobiography Floyd Salas contributed to the first issue online — and the interview with James “Crumdog” Crumley by Noel King also gets an online … Continue reading →

Posted in DMac, Lit, News | Tagged Contrappasso, Floyd Salas, James Crumley, Noel King |

Hammett: “Vamping Samson”

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Don

For me a writer’s life is traditional biography superimposed over strict bibliography. I want to know what was written, when, why, and then follow the writings into print, especially print that occurred in the writer’s own lifetime, when it meant … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Lit | Tagged "Ber-Bulu", "The Barber and His Wife", "Vamping Samson", Experience, George Jean Nathan, H. Bedford-Jones, H. L. Mencken, Pulps, Richard Layman, Smart Set, Sunset, Terry Zobeck, The Editor, The Forum, Vince Emery |

Hammett: And Lovecraft

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Don

Whoa. Friday the 13th. Time to get a little eldritch and unspeakable for Biography Month. . . . And unspeaking of H. P. Lovecraft, I admit I’m just as interested in the Could Have Beens of a writer’s life as the Plain … Continue reading →

Posted in Dash, Lit, REH | Tagged "Conan the Argonaut", Black Mask, Cap Shaw, Farnsworth Wright, Including Murder, Lovecraft, Pulps, Raymond Chandler, The Cimmerian, Weird Tales |

Rediscovered: More Life of Floyd

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Don

Got a note from Matthew Asprey that he’s got another publishing deal gone down — the magazine Contrappasso. Haven’t seen it yet, but a star feature for Up and Down These Mean Streets types would be a new autobiographical piece … Continue reading →