Ed here: Bare. Bones was a cool magazine that lapsed publication some years ago. Now editors Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri have brought it back as a website. And it's tearing up the land with in-depth articles about the origins of the post war magazines and paperback lines that paved the way for a good deal of the crime fiction that was to come. Here's their take on Manhunt.
The Complete Guide to Manhunt Part 1
Manhunt was the best crime digest ever published. I've been working on a book on the magazine for well over ten years. One of these days, I might just finish it. Bits of it have been published here and there but most of what you'll see here on this blog has never been published. It's a massive project, featuring a lot of words (the chapter on 1953, its first year, is 13,000 words alone), lots of graphics, and it's getting bigger every day. I'll present this project a bit at a time, beginning with a (revised) piece I wrote for Paperback Parade several years ago explaining my obsession with Manhunt.
FOR THE LOVE OF MANHUNT
by Peter Enfantino
First the numbers:
- 14 years (1953-1967)
- 114 issues
- over 500 authors
- over 1100 stories
- over 13,000 pages
- over 6,000,000 words
- countless writers influenced
Some of the guilty parties: Charles Williams, Donald E. Westlake (and Richard Stark), Ed McBain (and all his aliases), Gil Brewer, Craig Rice, Jonathon Craig, John D. MacDonald, Mickey Spillane, Richard Prather, Leslie Charteris, David Goodis, Robert Bloch, Harlan Ellison, Harry Whittington.
January 1953
April/May 1967
First published in January 1953, Manhunt’s rep was built on the contributions of Spillane, McBain, Whittington, and Goodis. That’s why these digests are so collectible. Most of the Manhunt elite never had their short stories collected. That’s why you’ll pay big dollars for key issues. But there are those of us who collect the digests for more than just the beautiful cover art of Dick Shelton or Ray Houlihan, or a rare Harlan Ellison appearance, or just the general musty odor of the pages. For those of us who actually read the gritty crime stories between the covers, Manhunt is a treasure trove of great writing.
for the rest go here:
http://barebonesez.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the plug, Ed! Don't be too surprised to see your name pop up on our website now and then. You're very highly regarded. Of course, we are two very disturbed individuals!
ReplyDeletePete
You've always done great work, Pete. And your new website is proof positive that you've gotten even better over the years. As you piece on "Manhunt" says in its early years it was a focus for most of the major crime fiction talents to come out of the war. Plus it published Nelson Algren, Erskine Caldwell and James T. Farrell among others literary writers.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading it as well. I was fascinated by Manhunt when I did my research on Craig Rice.
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