Pulp Masters: Cain/MacDonald/Spillane 2001 Paperback

📖 Pulp Masters — hard-boiled crime anthology edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg (Carroll & Graf, 2001). Collects five novelettes and one complete novel by six masters of the pulp era, each story first published in the magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. This copy is graded Very Good (VG); full condition report below.

QUICK FACTS

• Editors: Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg
• Contributors: James M. Cain, Donald E. Westlake, Lawrence Block, John D. MacDonald, Mickey Spillane, Harry Whittington
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf, New York (an Avalon Publishing Group division)
• Year: 2001 — first Carroll & Graf edition
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 380+ (final story begins p. 330) | ISBN: 0-7867-0873-5
• Condition: Very Good (VG) — full report below

THE ANTHOLOGY

Pulp Masters gathers crime fiction that first appeared in the pulp and slick magazines of the mid-twentieth century — the venues where its six authors built the hard-boiled form. Ed Gorman’s introduction (p. vii) opens the volume; the works that follow run from James M. Cain’s cool precision to Mickey Spillane’s blunt force. The back cover bills the contents as five classic novelettes and one complete novel from the golden age of magazine fiction.

COMPLETE CONTENTS (verified from the book’s contents page)

• Introduction — Ed Gorman (p. vii)
• The Embezzler — James M. Cain (p. 1)
• Ordo — Donald E. Westlake (p. 81)
• Stag Party Girl — Lawrence Block (p. 142); first published in Guy, 1965
• College-Cut Kill — John D. MacDonald (p. 192); first published in Dime Detective Magazine, June 1950
• Everybody’s Watching Me — Mickey Spillane (p. 256); first published in Manhunt, January 1953
• So Dead My Love — Harry Whittington (p. 330)

THE CONTRIBUTORS

• James M. Cain — author of The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity; “The Embezzler” opens the anthology.
• Donald E. Westlake — prolific crime novelist behind the Dortmunder series and the Parker novels written as Richard Stark.
• Lawrence Block — creator of Matthew Scudder and Bernie Rhodenbarr; “Stag Party Girl” is from his early magazine period.
• John D. MacDonald — author of the Travis McGee novels; “College-Cut Kill” comes from his 1950s Dime Detective stories.
• Mickey Spillane — Mike Hammer’s creator; “Everybody’s Watching Me” ran in Manhunt’s January 1953 issue.
• Harry Whittington — mid-century crime writer whose novels and stories filled the pulps and paperback originals of his era.

THE EDITORS

Ed Gorman was a mystery novelist and anthology editor; Martin H. Greenberg co-compiled hundreds of genre anthologies across mystery, science fiction, and horror. Together they assembled Pulp Masters as a guided tour of hard-boiled magazine fiction at its peak.

COVER ART & DESIGN

The cover reproduces the classic pulp idiom — a glamorous red-haired woman in the femme-fatale mode, painted in warm tones against black — beneath “PULP MASTERS” in bold yellow-to-blue gradient lettering, with the six contributors listed on a red band and the editors’ credit along the bottom. The back cover carries the anthology pitch, contributor list, and original $14.00 price. Cover design © 2001 by Tony Garcia & Associates, Inc. (per back cover).

THIS COPY

Graded Very Good (VG) — see the full condition report below. The photographs of the copyright and contents pages show a clean, square, tight copy: bright pages, no foxing, no writing, spine uncreased.

WHY IT MATTERS

• One volume, six foundational hard-boiled writers — stories that first ran in Dime Detective, Manhunt, and Guy magazines of the 1950s and 1960s
• Editors Gorman and Greenberg were among the most active anthology compilers in genre fiction of their era
• First Carroll & Graf edition — Carroll & Graf built its reputation reprinting classic crime, thriller, and mystery fiction

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? First Carroll & Graf edition, 2001 (collection copyright © 2001 by Ed Gorman).

What condition is it in? Very Good (VG) — full report below.

Is it signed? No — an unsigned trade paperback.

Does it include the complete stories? Yes — the back cover describes five novelettes and one complete novel; the contents page lists every selection with its page number.

Who are the editors? Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, both prolific compilers of mystery and crime anthologies.

FOR COLLECTORS

A clean copy pairing Cain’s “The Embezzler” with MacDonald’s “College-Cut Kill,” Spillane’s Manhunt-era “Everybody’s Watching Me,” Westlake’s “Ordo,” Block’s “Stag Party Girl,” and Whittington’s “So Dead My Love.” First-edition status, complete verified contents, and VG condition make it a solid shelf piece for hard-boiled and pulp-fiction collections.

Condition Report

• Overall Grade: Very Good (VG)
• Cover & Spine: Cover art remains vibrant with a diagonal crease starting from the edge and running all the way toward the upper corner, otherwise, minimal edge wear, with back cover free of creasing. Spine is solid, crisp, square, uncreased.
• Text Block & Pages: Text block quite clean, uniform, bright, just the slightest hint of reading use on out block edge. Internally all pages are bright, no writing, no loose, torn or folded pages.
• Binding: Square and tight.

See accompanying images for full condition details. Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-10-07

1 in stock