Knowledge in Your Pocket - The Spark of Yahoo!
Rated • 1 review • history, pulp fiction, paperbacks, books, authors • yahoo.com
From the page: "Knowledge in Your Pocket
By Suzanne Duchacek
Mon, July 28, 2008
Seventy years ago today, the paperback book took America by storm. Previously, books were seen as luxury items for the elite, but the appearance of cheap, mass-produced books at local grocery stores, on newsstands, and in railroad stations had a powerful impact on society and culture by bringing literature to the masses. Similar to the rise of the Internet, the paperback revolution democratized knowledge and encouraged the growth of genre fiction, eliciting widespread shock and horror -- thanks to such titles as "'Junkie!'" and "The Blonde on the Street Corner," and provocative cover illustrations that were intended to titillate and entice customers.
Paperback books had previous incarnations in the dime novels and pulp fiction magazines of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and benefited from the pioneering efforts of German publisher Albatross in the early 1930s. The turning point was the 1935 emergence of Penguin in Great Britain, selling mass-produced quality literature. Penguin failed to capture the U.S. market, but its success inspired Pocket Books, which adopted Penguin's strategy -- but added cover illustrations to the mix. With the onset of World War II and increased factory production, Pocket Books met the needs of soldiers and shift workers who wanted books in a lightweight and easy-to-carry form. Publishers such as Avon, Dell, Bantam, Ace, and Harlequin soon sprang up and began to release original works by authors like Henry Miller and John Steinbeck, instead of simply issuing cheap reprints, and genres like crime, romance, detective, and horror took off.
Today, paperbacks are seen as a tool to attract new customers and try out new authors, but electronic books are right around the corner and have the potential to re-revolutionize knowledge in much the same way that paperbacks once did. But as book lovers will assure you, nothing beats sitting back and relaxing with an old, beat-up paperback."
By Suzanne Duchacek
Mon, July 28, 2008
Seventy years ago today, the paperback book took America by storm. Previously, books were seen as luxury items for the elite, but the appearance of cheap, mass-produced books at local grocery stores, on newsstands, and in railroad stations had a powerful impact on society and culture by bringing literature to the masses. Similar to the rise of the Internet, the paperback revolution democratized knowledge and encouraged the growth of genre fiction, eliciting widespread shock and horror -- thanks to such titles as "'Junkie!'" and "The Blonde on the Street Corner," and provocative cover illustrations that were intended to titillate and entice customers.
Paperback books had previous incarnations in the dime novels and pulp fiction magazines of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and benefited from the pioneering efforts of German publisher Albatross in the early 1930s. The turning point was the 1935 emergence of Penguin in Great Britain, selling mass-produced quality literature. Penguin failed to capture the U.S. market, but its success inspired Pocket Books, which adopted Penguin's strategy -- but added cover illustrations to the mix. With the onset of World War II and increased factory production, Pocket Books met the needs of soldiers and shift workers who wanted books in a lightweight and easy-to-carry form. Publishers such as Avon, Dell, Bantam, Ace, and Harlequin soon sprang up and began to release original works by authors like Henry Miller and John Steinbeck, instead of simply issuing cheap reprints, and genres like crime, romance, detective, and horror took off.
Today, paperbacks are seen as a tool to attract new customers and try out new authors, but electronic books are right around the corner and have the potential to re-revolutionize knowledge in much the same way that paperbacks once did. But as book lovers will assure you, nothing beats sitting back and relaxing with an old, beat-up paperback."
From the page: "Dords, Mountweazels, and Zzxjoanws
From the page: "Must Geek TV
From the page: 
