Thursday, May 6, 2010

Flash Fiction (1933 style) by Richard Sale


Richard Sale is one of my favorite pulp writers. Some time back I reviewed his first novel, Not Too Narrow ...Not Too Deep, and posted the story "A Dirge for Pagliaccio" featuring his most beloved character, Daffy Dill.

Sale made his first known magazine appearance in 1932. The earliest story I have is a 3-pager from this super-slim (hey, what do you expect for a nickel?) oddball pulp from 1933. Check it out. And don't be bashful - click to ENLARGE.



12 comments:

fourthhostcelestials@yahoo.com said...

Great scarce pulp that I have sitting on a shelf in my own collection. It is super thin and amazing something so thin from 1933 and suppose to be thrown away after reading SURVIVED into the 21ST century. ENJOY PULPS - DLSmith

Richard R. said...

Thanks very much for this one, Evan! Really enjoy reading these old stories, especially since I could never afford to buy any of these pulps for myself.

After reading the Captain Dan Marguard stories published by Black Dog, I did some investigating. Thought it might be fun to have a few issues of DANGER TRAIL. Yikes! a couple of C-notes each worth of fun. Thank goodness for reprints!

Evan Lewis said...

Hey DL, do you know if Sale did any other stories for this magazine?

A couple of C-notes is way more than I could pay for a pulp, but I suppose it's a measure of scarcity.

Deka Black said...

Short and fun. I can see the worker purchasing this issue in the newstand and reading it in the train in his way to work.

Jerry House said...

Where's "Sweet Dreams" Where's the electric blue dress? Where's Skylar Hobbes? And they call this flash fiction?

Evan Lewis said...

I would have loved to see Sale's take on the Sweet Dreams challenge.

Monte Herridge said...

Thanks for the interesting early Sale story.

Evan Lewis said...

Hey Monte. Nice of you to drop by.

fourthhostcelestials@yahoo,com said...

H. Bedford-Jones, Norman A. Daniels, E. Hoffmann Price, Arthur J. Burks, Anthony M. Rud, Archie Joscelyn, and Robert McBlair seem to be the only prolific pulp writers on the title. Over at NICKEL WESTERN they had S. Omar Barker, Ralph Cummins, A. M. Rud, Jay Lucas, Westmoreland Grey, Samual Taylor amoung a few others. ENJOY PULPS - DLSmith

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Evan, for another Richard Sale story. He's definitely a pulp writer in need of reprinting.

I'll tell you the one I'd like to read by him though: "The Devil Made a Derringer" from the September/October 1938 issue of ALL-AMERICAN FICTION. If the title is anything to go by, it's the story Yancy Derringer was created in.

Phil Leibfried said...

Jackanaples - You have that right - The 1938 story was the basis for the TV show. In the story tho, the character of Derringer had no first name; it was added for the TV show. Unfortunately, that's a rare pulp; the title lasted only 8 issues. I'm hoping someone will reprint that story.

Anonymous said...

Many thanks for the story. I enjoy these old pulps and have become a Sale fan.

Regarding "The Devil Made a Derringer": This is one I'd really like to read, too. It's been a few years since the last comment. Has this one ever been reprinted?