Pulp Lives On: Review of Havana Nocturne

I'm a fan of Pulp. Not hugely the original Pulp stories, but of the larger genre and time period.

So when is the Pulp Era?

Some folks have it pegged to the Roaring Twenties with Prohibition, gangsters, barnstorming pilots, and Lovecraftian horrors. I'm more of a fan of the 1930s, with nefarious Nazis, flying boats, and a touch of desperation.

However, I was pretty sure when the Pulp Era ended, August 6, 1945. In one moment, the world of super-science became very real, the mysteries of magic were surpassed, something of the raw adventure of the world passed away.

Except it didn't.

T.J. English makes a very good case for the survival of Pulp in the streets of 1950s Havana. Fabulous show-girls, mobsters, corrupt politicians, partisans in the hills, con-men...it's all still there, without the freeze of the Cold War insinuating itself. The place feels like it would've been a perfect setting for a 'two-fisted' adventurer to continue his adventuring ways after a stint with the OSS.