Pulp Today w/ David Avallone

74 Episodes

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Episode 72: J.G. Ballard: Genre As Art

2022-08-15--:--

On the season finale, we read and talk about J.G. Ballard’s intro to his classic novel CRASH, in which he defends science fiction – a pulp genre – as a legitimate and worthwhile literary pursuit. Expanding his argument to encompass other disrespected genres could serve as the thesis statement of PULP TODAY. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 71: Faces, Masks and Cities of Glass

2022-08-08--:--

Paul Auster uses the detective genre to investigate questions of identity, story and reality itself in CITY OF GLASS, the first novella in THE NEW YORK TRILOGY. In a P.I. story… the first initial is “Private,” but does that second initial stand for Investigator, Eye... or I? --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 70: Even Babysitters Can Be Detectives

2022-08-01--:--

Returning guest Emily Edwards, author of the upcoming detective novel Viviana Valentine Gets Her Man, and host of the hilarious podcast “F*ckbois of Literature,” introduces us to the Babysitters’ Club Mysteries with #12: Dawn and the Surfer Ghost. It’s exactly what you think. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 69: Hell... and Conventions

2022-07-18--:--

As San Diego Comic Con 2022 approaches, David Avallone reads from Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's INFERNO, which connects the dots between fan conventions and eternal suffering. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 68: Vera Caspary's Laura

2022-07-11--:--

A great mystery novel with multiple narrators, turned into a great film with just one. David Avallone discusses the life and work of Vera Caspary, blacklists and greylists, and the impossibility of reading this book without imitating Clifton Webb. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 67: Andrew Vachss vs. the Worst People in the World

2022-06-13--:--

Like Dashiell Hammett, Andrew Vachss walked the walk before he sat down to write about crime. Unlike Hammett, Vachss was able to write explicitly – honestly – about the kind of monsters who walk the earth disguised as ordinary people. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 66: Swashbuckling with Horatio Hornblower

2022-06-06--:--

Sixty-six episodes in, and we still haven't gotten around to a single swashbuckler pulp. We correct that oversight with today's reading from C. S. Forester's classic Royal Navy hero, in his first adventure. Bonus: what does swordplay really sound like? --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 65: The Felony Squad, Tie-Ins, and Tough Choices

2022-05-16--:--

Anyone remember THE FELONY SQUAD? Has Michael Avallone’s well-regarded original tie-in outlived the memory of the TV show it was based on? Listen to a chapter and decide for yourself... --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 64: Boldly Going

2022-05-09--:--

To celebrate the premiere of STRANGE NEW WORLDS and commemorate the passing of original STAR TREK artist James Bama, this week’s topic is the novelizations of James Blish. There is a reading from the SPACE SEED short story, and Montalban/Nimoy/Shatner impressions are just barely avoided. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 63: Steampunk, the Aviation Pulps and G8

2022-05-02--:--

Less than two decades after the Great War, writers who lived through it were already turning their nightmarish experiences into high adventure… and fantastic science fiction. Chief among these was Robert J. Hogan, air war veteran, pulp writer, and creator of the indelible G8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES. Bonus: local air traffic provides realistic sound effects during the reading. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 62: The Lost Weekend

2022-04-25--:--

No martinis this time, as the subject is Charles Jackson’s ground-breaking classic about an alcoholic’s five day bender. Also featured: the things you find in old paperbacks, and a telegram from Jackson to Michael Avallone. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 61: Gary Phillips Comes to Harlem

2022-04-18--:--

Critically acclaimed author Gary Phillips joins David Avallone to read from, and talk about, Chester Himes’ classic COTTON COMES TO HARLEM, and all things pulp. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 60: Defending Civilization at Castle Keep

2022-04-11--:--

William Eastlake's dreamlike World War Two classic, about modern war crashing into the priceless relics and art treasures of Europe. In all that destruction... what can be saved? All that, plus a pretty lazy Burt Lancaster impression. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 59: The Man Who Was Thursday

2022-03-28--:--

What does a surrealist Christian allegory have to do with pulp fiction? Everything. G.K. Chesterton’s classic, influential masterpiece, subtitled "A Nightmare", echoes in every spy and conspiracy story you’ve ever read. "The adventures may be mad, but the adventurer must be sane." --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 58: Super-Chilling... with Kelly Sue Milano!

2022-03-21--:--

R.L. Stine is a wildly prolific paperback horror phenomenon, and comics writer Kelly Sue Milano (HEX11) joins David Avallone to talk about FEAR STREET SUPER CHILLER: SILENT NIGHT. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 57: It’s Superman!

2022-03-14--:--

Can a serious author write a serious novel about... Superman? Tom De Haven answers that question with a resounding, entertaining, delightful "yes!" --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 56: Deep Space, Doorways, and the Sense of Wonder

2022-02-28--:--

Some books open important doorways for you. For David Avallone, one of those was Robert Silverberg’s classic science fiction anthology DEEP SPACE. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 55: Winter Kills

2022-02-21--:--

Richard Condon wrote sophisticated thrillers that were as pulpy as they were smart, and influenced everyone who ever tried to turn conspiracy theories into entertainments. One of his best, WINTER KILLS, centers around the youngest member of the most wealthy and influential family in America… as he tries to figure out who assassinated his brother, the President. Ripped-from-the-headlines catharsis; a pulp model as old as Oedipus Rex. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 54: This Gun For Hire

2022-02-14--:--

Graham Greene was a master of pulp fiction and a great “literary” novelist, and THIS GUN FOR HIRE (originally A GUN FOR SALE) is one of his sharpest. Can you really put up a wall between two aspects of your own talent? And what makes a man a murderer? Big questions. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

Episode 53: Modesty!

2022-02-0718:01

In memory of breathtaking Italian actress Monica Vitti, today we talk about the iconic character MODESTY BLAISE, and how an entertaining comic strip became a train-wreck of a film, and then an excellent series of spy novels. --Please leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts/iTunes!-- Website: pendantaudio.com Twitter: @pendantweb Facebook: facebook.com/pendantaudio Tumblr: pendantaudio.tumblr.com YouTube: youtube.com/pendantproductions

#box-pro-ellipsis-176818480910393{-webkit-line-clamp:2;}Pulp Today w/ David Avallone