The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps

Starred review from August 25, 2014
Penzler’s thoughtful introduction makes plain why this intelligently assembled anthology of 68 short stories will be catnip for fair play fans, since the locked-room story “is the ultimate manifestation of the cerebral detective story.” He also notes that while the tales are “astoundingly inventive,” disappointment will be inevitable when the solution is revealed, “just as explanations of stage illusions exterminate the spell of magic.” Despite that caveat, Penzler has assembled a wide-ranging collection of the impossible, including murder in sealed environments or by an invisible killer who leaves no footprints in the sand or snow. There are entries by familiar masters of the subgenre—John Dickson Carr, Clayton Rawson, Edward Hoch—as well as by mystery writers better known for other kinds of stories—Dorothy L. Sayers, Erle Stanley Gardner, Georges Simenon, Dashiell Hammett—and even a straight detective story from P.G. Wodehouse. The real treat is in the revelations of the gifts at misdirection from undeservedly obscure authors such as Julian Hawthorne (Nathaniel’s son), J.E. Gurdon, Augustus Muir, and Vincent Cornier, whose ingenious work is less likely to be encountered in other anthologies.

September 1, 2007
Though written strictly as cheap entertainment, pulp detective stories have found a new respectability, both as serious literature and as golden nuggets of Americana. Collected by noted mystery aficionado Penzler, this "Black Lizard" bruiser offers the cream of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, more than 45 stories in all, from Olympians like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner, Cornell Woolrich, and James M. Cain to the long-forgotten penny-a-word boys. The book is divided into three sections: "The Crimefighters," "The Villains," and "The Dames," each with its own introduction (Penzler on the crimefighters; Harlan Ellison, who talks as much about himself as he does the villains; and Laura Lippman on the dames). Many of the stories share both the pessimism of their timethe good guys don't always win and the bad guys aren't always punishedand the optimism to fight the good fight. The stories are presented in two columns per page, the way they first appeared in "Black Mask, Dime Detective", and other hack-fests of yesteryear, and include the original art, typically a thug with an automatic threatening the PI or a slinky babe in her lingerie. Though other similar collections exist, this noirasaurus will appeal to the genre's many fans. If pulps are your cup, it will runneth over with "Black Lizard's" gangbusters collection.Michael Rogers, "Library Journal"

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2007
Pulp fictions comeback is so complete that its hard to call it a guilty pleasure. Publishers are busily reprinting old favorites and issuing new stuff written in the manner of the old ones. And, as always, the covers are surely half of the appeal. Black Lizard has been in this business longer than most; this mammoth compilation of reprints is, paradoxically, a Vintage Books Original. And Penzlers credentials as both editor and fan cant be questionedalthough genre loyalists will have fun debating his choices. Using a stringent definition of pulp, he selects mostly works that first appeared in the immortal Black Mask. Divided into three partsCrimefighters, Villains, and Damesthe Big Book features names both beloved (Chandler, Hammett, Cain) and barely remembered (Booth, Reeves, White). There are firsts of one kind (a claimed first-ever publication of Dashiell Hammetts short story Faith) and another (a novel, The Third Murderer, by Carroll John Daly, the inventor of the hard-boiled private-eye story). Its a little less fun reading these slim things in a groaning compendium, but at least its a paperback. And good luck finding them all on your own.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

September 17, 2007
This impressive anthology of pulp-era crime stories from veteran editor and publisher Penzler reveals not only tales with surprising staying power but also some of high literary quality. To be sure, there are some selections sure to offend modern sensibilities and others whose extravagant prose now comes across as laughable or ludicrous. But aside from questions of quality and taste, these tales laid the foundation for most branches of the crime fiction genre as we know it today. Raymond Chandler's “Red Wind” is as effective now as it was when published in 1938. An unexpected treat is “Faith,” a previously unpublished Dashiell Hammett story. Multiple offerings from Erle Stanley Gardner, Hammett, Chandler and Cornell Woolrich add luster. Divided into three sections—the Crimefighters, the Villains, the Dames—with cogent intros by Penzler to each entry, this comprehensive volume allows the reader to revisit that exciting time when the pulp magazines flourished and writers pounded out fiction for a penny a word or less.

Starred review from August 9, 2010
Let's put it straight, like a fist in the face: this treasure trove of more than 50 stories and novels offers the best value ever for fans of hard-boiled detective fiction. In the pulp magazine Black Mask (1920–1951), Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler made their bones, with Erle Stanley Gardner and other heavyweights at their heels. As Penzler (Agents of Treachery) notes in his intros to each selection, an amazing number of these writers moved on to movies and TV. Highlights include the complete The Maltese Falcon, the original version from the pulp, unreprinted for 80 years. (Hammett made a couple of thousand changes for the hardcover novel.) The novel Rainbow Diamonds, featuring Raoul Whitfield's Filipino detective Jo Gar, appears in a book for the first time. The iconic story "Sail" by Lester "Doc Savage" Dent shows up in a variant draft, preferred by the author. The only way Penzler can top this one—a bigger book of Black Mask!