"An indispensable collection of essays and articles about the golden years of paperback originals. A collection to be dipped in again and again." --Maxim Jakubowski, crimetime " Girl Gangs .isn't a straight telling of history, but a jigsaw that builds up into a widescreen picture of its subjects, using essays about juvenile delinquency, youthsploitation, beats, bikers and bohemians as a starting point." --Steve Holland, bearalley.blogspot "I've been having huge fun reading about JD fiction and looking at the outrageously titillating covers in Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats , an anthology edited by two Australians, Iain McIntyre and Andrew Nette. What was once reviled as rubbishy reading is now collected, curated and revered as retro chic." --Jane Sullivan, The Age " Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats is an important book, a study of the postwar anxieties and unspoken desires that throbbed and squirmed beneath a taut veil of suburban fantasy and mid-century modern decor.
" --K.E. Roberts, We Arethe Mutants "The lurid, lewd, hilarious, awful, and awesome book-cover reproductions are an obvious draw, but there's scholarship here, too. A highlight for fans of low culture." --Keir Graff, Booklist "All told, Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, And Real Cool Cats is an excellent exploration of the world of pulp publishing. It remains readable throughout and the editors have done a fantastic job in keeping a consistent style across the various contributions." --Paul Abbott "I don't care who you are, this book will thrill you. It's a bookcase necessity.
If you have any interest in rock 'n' roll, lesbians, cult murder, car racing, leather jackets, skinhead violence, surfing spies, girl gangs or adolescents trying pot for the first time, THIS IS YOUR BAG, BABY." --Ariel Schudson, Dangerous Minds "This ambitious book runs through three decades of public apprehension, alarm, and allurement in the U.S, Britain, and Australia, centred around an increasingly delinquent and defiant postwar youth culture." --Gary von Tersch, shindig-magazine.com "This is a must for fans of pulp fiction and youth culture" --David Cranmer, Criminal Element "The contributors' appreciation of the novels under discussion is obvious, and there is much that is valuable here. a real pleasure." --Max Décharné, The Spectator "This book is a powerful history of the literature that was written for and about the marginalised. It is our history and I am grateful it has been published in such an inspiring format.
" --Michael Jongen, http://newtownreviewofbooks.com.au/ "Rock 'n roll, hot boxes, car racing, leather jackets, potheads, hippies, lesbians, surfing spies, girls gang, anything queer as you want to be, the book bursts with surplus energy and the desire to find expression through style, fashion, Music and language, revolt and protest." --Alf Mayer, CultureMag "Between the unintentional comedy of bargain-basement hacks and the come-hither-and-read-me covers, this collection of a long-gone low-brow art form expresses attitudes that were absurd even in their day. One can only hope--AG sessions notwithstanding--they remain so." --Michael Simmons, High Times.