Thanks to all those who came out on Monday for the launch of Girl Gangs, Biker Biker Boys & Real Cool Cats: Pulp Fiction & Youth Culture, at Grub Street Bookshop in Fitzroy. A fine time was had by all ushering the book into the world.
The book is the first comprehensive account of how the rise of postwar youth culture was depicted in mass-market pulp fiction. It is the perfect Christmas present for that hard to buy for family member or friend.
Melbourne folk can buy copies of Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats at Grub Street Bookshop, Brunswick Bound bookshop and Sun Books in Yarraville, with other locations to follow soon.
You can order the book online from the following places:
From the publisher, PM Press, here
From Angus and Robertson Online
Folks in the US who have pre-ordered have started receiving the book. Those in the UK will have to wait a little longer, probably until later in December, early January, to receive their copy.
Those of you who have the book and like it, please don’t forget to spread the word, including rating it on Goodreads and Amazon. If you work in a library, it would be great if you could order the book in.
If you are interested in reviewing the book drop me a line.
My co-editor, Iain McIntyre and I are more than happy to come to attend your book group or any other event you would care to organise.
Hi Andrew
May I first congratulate you (and your co-editor, Iain McIntyre) on your recent success with Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats – an exceptional piece of research, and a real treat for the eye. It hardly needs saying that it’s also a goldmine of information for those, like myself, with an interest in the scurrilous activities of publishers like NEL, Horwitz et al; such well-balanced reviews, articles and interviews are a genuine pleasure to read. Once again, kudos.
Before going on, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Steve Guariento, and I’m a British writer currently researching a critical overview of film tie-ins (Light into Ink: A Critical Survey of 50 Film Novelizations). Building on the pioneering work by Randall Larson, whose Films into Books (1995) offered interviews with 50 key practitioners of the art, Light into Ink will present in-depth critical reviews of 50 examples of the form, from Children of the Damned to Liquid Sky: The Novel – in a bold (or foolhardy) attempt to answer that age-old question: are novelizations inherently moronic? My approach is not, primarily, from a lit-crit perspective (although that’s a key part of the analysis); it is my contention that novelizations occupy a limbo territory between literature and film, necessitating a different critical tack entirely – one which acknowledges the rival fictional “reality” these adaptations create in the mind of the reader, a reality which diverges (sometimes significantly) from that established by the film experience. As well as comparing the novels with the films they adapt, Light into Ink will include brief biographical material on the authors, and some background detail on the publishers…and it’s at this point I present my begging-bowl for your attention.
Certain details continue to elude me, and I’m hoping-slash-praying you can help smoke them out. Of particular interest to me is the Australian publisher QB Books, whose Mad Max 2 will be covered in my Aussie apocalypse chapter; however, I’ve been unable to unearth much of anything about this imprint, and consequently turn to yourself for enlightenment. (Unless I’ve missed it, there’s no mention of QB in Craig Munro’s Paper Empires: A History of the Book in Australia, 1946-2005; if I’m wrong, I’m an idiot, and will happily acknowledge it.) Of course, I understand that I may be trespassing on your own hard-won territory, and that you may prefer not to disclose research which you intend to publish yourself. I’ve no wish to steal your thunder, but I can guarantee that any information you share will receive the proper acknowledgement.
And there my supplication ends. Congratulations again on Girl Gangs, and thanks very much for your time.
Best regards,
Steve Guariento.
http://www.smguariento.com
Steve,
Greetings. First up, thanks so much for the kind words about our Girl Gangs book. It is much appreciated. Your project sounds v interesting and, as far as I can tell, does not poach any of my turf, so happy to help if I can. I have a bit on over the next couple of days but will try and get to you via e-mail in the next week or so. Feel free to give me a prod if you have not heard from me by the end of next week.
Cheers,
Andrew
Great stuff. Cheers Andrew.
Best,
Steve.