Rating: 
Summary: Covers the history and rise of pulp fiction
Review: Great American Paperback covers the history and rise of pulp fiction, from its experimental appearance in 1938 to the growth of an industry which reached its heyday from the 1940s-1960s. Beautiful covers from all genres of pulp paperbacks are reproduced in full color in a title which presents the history and archives of the best of these paperbacks. An outstanding, beautiful coverage in a keepsake collector's edition.
Rating:
Summary: JUST GREAT!
Review: I received "The Great American Paperback" as a Christmas gift and hardly a week goes by that I don't dip into it. It's an overwhelmingly great book about a fascinating era of American publishing. Lupoff covers artists and writers well-known and unknown. There's a surprise on every page and visual treasure upon treasure. The text is equally interesting as Lupoff tells the stories behind the publishers, but it's clearly the book covers themselves that take center stage here. The layout (which sometimes presents covers slightly overlapping other covers) might have been improved, but overall the images are bright, sharp and big. Very few thumbnail views here. I for one hope we'll one day get to see a "Great American Paperback Volume 2" because as good as this one is, there's enough stuff out there to easily fill a second volume. Buy this book without reservation. If you have any love of Americana in general and pulp/paperbacks in particular, you'll fall in love with this book.
Rating:
Summary: JUST GREAT!
Review: I received "The Great American Paperback" as a Christmas gift and hardly a week goes by that I don't dip into it. It's an overwhelmingly great book about a fascinating era of American publishing. Lupoff covers artists and writers well-known and unknown. There's a surprise on every page and visual treasure upon treasure. The text is equally interesting as Lupoff tells the stories behind the publishers, but it's clearly the book covers themselves that take center stage here. The layout (which sometimes presents covers slightly overlapping other covers) might have been improved, but overall the images are bright, sharp and big. Very few thumbnail views here. I for one hope we'll one day get to see a "Great American Paperback Volume 2" because as good as this one is, there's enough stuff out there to easily fill a second volume. Buy this book without reservation. If you have any love of Americana in general and pulp/paperbacks in particular, you'll fall in love with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant Garbage
Review: One big, big book and as beautiful an edition as possible, here are covers from countless paperbacks: an illustrator's dream reference book and for collectors of old paperbacks, a goldmine of great junk. OK, so there ARE features by noted writers: I loved the detective covers and the trash!
These were the days of GREAT design, and you don't have to be a snooty art director to love this stuff.
Very, very cool!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Covers the market badly.
Review: Richard Lupoff's colorful book is rather stunning at first glance but the more I look at it the more I see serious flaws.The presentation is too overwhelming. Several colors are used for the background of the pages and these mostly overpower the covers. These strong colors mean that some pages have white text which becomes tiring to read, especially tiny capital letter caption type. The overlapping of nearly all the covers was really annoying, in some cases one cover obscures just too much of another cover. A similar book, 'Jackets Required' by Steven Heller and Seymour Chwast has 270 covers (thankfully printed on white paper) none of which overlap and it is lovely to look at. As far as I can see there is no meaningful sequence to the covers, they are not shown by genre, year of publication, artist or publisher. The index is weak. This is a book collectors will use and I would expect an index to the 600 covers shown, possibly even an artist index, too. I wonder if the lack of a proper index is because at least a third of the pages have no number! The longest run I found was seven pages (58-64) but mostly it is runs of three or four pages through the book. Should buyers really have to put up with this? Another reviewer has noted how disappointing this book was, I agree, not because of what Lupoff has to say but because of the poor editorial production. The author probably had nothing to do with this. I still prefer 'Paperbacks USA' by Piet Schruders, a fascinating graphic history of the paperback, Lupoff says it 'is a landmark of paperback scholarship...'.
Rating:
Summary: Tough guys and fast women, the history of paperbacks
Review: The task presented to Mr. Lupoff in making this book was formidable. He had to create a book that would appeal to paperback collectors, students of popular culture and the general public. I don't think he succeeded particularly well.
Collectors will already know the vast majority of what is in this book and might disagree quite heartily with the grades of collectibility assigned to some of the books (only ...?). The obscuring of many covers by parts of other covers will also frustrate folks. Nothing really vital is normally blocked but when looking at a piece of art, one would normally care to see it in its entirety. The text of the book, while well written and factually correct, failed to engage me entirely. It was almost completely familiar territory and rarely went into any depth. Students of popular culture and collectors of art books will find some of these same flaws. For this reviewer the best part was the miscellany found with the descriptions of the covers/books. Neat tidbits of info and enthusiastic appreciation of the art made known Mr. Lupoff's appreciation for the books.
The general public will either love or be indifferent to the book. The design is eye catching but the page coloring (an attempt to capture the sensationalism of paperback covers?) is often distracting and at times prohibitive to the enjoyment of the covers. The reading should be interesting to the uninitiated as Lupoff clearly enjoyed what he was writing about and the enthusiasm comes through.
A little more information about the major paperback authors would have been nice along with a detailed index of cover artists. Any book that tries to seriously tackle the history of paperbacks in the United States and lacks an index listing for Orrie Hitt is doomed to mediocrity.
Rating:
Summary: Tough guys and fast women, the history of paperbacks
Review: The task presented to Mr. Lupoff in making this book was formidable. He had to create a book that would appeal to paperback collectors, students of popular culture and the general public. I don't think he succeeded particularly well.
Collectors will already know the vast majority of what is in this book and might disagree quite heartily with the grades of collectibility assigned to some of the books (only ...?). The obscuring of many covers by parts of other covers will also frustrate folks. Nothing really vital is normally blocked but when looking at a piece of art, one would normally care to see it in its entirety. The text of the book, while well written and factually correct, failed to engage me entirely. It was almost completely familiar territory and rarely went into any depth. Students of popular culture and collectors of art books will find some of these same flaws. For this reviewer the best part was the miscellany found with the descriptions of the covers/books. Neat tidbits of info and enthusiastic appreciation of the art made known Mr. Lupoff's appreciation for the books.
The general public will either love or be indifferent to the book. The design is eye catching but the page coloring (an attempt to capture the sensationalism of paperback covers?) is often distracting and at times prohibitive to the enjoyment of the covers. The reading should be interesting to the uninitiated as Lupoff clearly enjoyed what he was writing about and the enthusiasm comes through.
A little more information about the major paperback authors would have been nice along with a detailed index of cover artists. Any book that tries to seriously tackle the history of paperbacks in the United States and lacks an index listing for Orrie Hitt is doomed to mediocrity.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Buy It; Doesn't Live Up to the Hype
Review: This book suffers badly from extremely poor art direction. Many of the greatest paperback covers of the "golden age" [1940s and early '50s] are reproduced far too small, or not all, while countless ridiculous and pointless examples from the declining period [the late '50s onward] are shown at nearly full size. The chapters are organized by publisher rather than genre or artist. This was a very questionable decision. Placing some kiddie-comedy book cover on the same page as a crime-noir cover is obviously ludicrous, yet the "art director" [who should be fired] makes such absurd layout decisions throughout this book. To top things off, most of the text is difficult to read, printed garishly over solid red and dark blue backgrounds. In short, "The Great American Paperback" was a book interesting in concept, but sorely lacking in execution. Piet Schreuders' "Paperbacks USA" remains the essential text on the subject. Find a used copy of this out-of-print book and don't waste your money on Lupoff's folly.
Rating:
Summary: Small Books in a Huge Package
Review: This is a seminal book about paperbacks--one that will never be equaled. A must for collectors; in fact, a must for anyone interested in popular culture and American publishing. Considering the size of the book, the quality of the reproductions, and the knowledge shown by its author/editor Richard A. Lupoff, this book is one terrific bargain. It took me back to when I was a kid and had graduated from the school library to the wire racks of paperbacks at the local drugstore. The choice of books was a trip down Memory Lane, and one for which I'm grateful to Mr. Lupoff. (Others may argue with the choice of images but then they're free to publish their own book.) All the books are here--from the important and the significant down to the merely entertaining and sometimes unabashedly trashy. But it's amazing how with the passage of time, trash has morphed into treasure. The choice of images is terrific, their presentation and reproduction impeccable. Not to be overlooked is the insightful and entertaining commentary by the author--one who was on the scene and personally contributed to one of the greatest fields of popular entertainment in America.
Rating:
Summary: Small Books in a Huge Package
Review: This is a seminal book about paperbacks--one that will never be equaled. A must for collectors; in fact, a must for anyone interested in popular culture and American publishing. Considering the size of the book, the quality of the reproductions, and the knowledge shown by its author/editor Richard A. Lupoff, this book is one terrific bargain. It took me back to when I was a kid and had graduated from the school library to the wire racks of paperbacks at the local drugstore. The choice of books was a trip down Memory Lane, and one for which I'm grateful to Mr. Lupoff. (Others may argue with the choice of images but then they're free to publish their own book.) All the books are here--from the important and the significant down to the merely entertaining and sometimes unabashedly trashy. But it's amazing how with the passage of time, trash has morphed into treasure. The choice of images is terrific, their presentation and reproduction impeccable. Not to be overlooked is the insightful and entertaining commentary by the author--one who was on the scene and personally contributed to one of the greatest fields of popular entertainment in America.
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