| Detective Magazines (Midi) | 
 enlarge | List Price: $39.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 1 reviews)
Sales Rank: 50983
Category: Book
Author: George Hagenauer
Publisher: TASCHEN America Llc
Studio: TASCHEN America Llc
Manufacturer: TASCHEN America Llc
Label: TASCHEN America Llc
Format: Illustrated
Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language), French (Original Language), French (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Mul
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.6
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 9.5 x 1.4
ISBN: 382282559X
Dewey Decimal Number: 704
EAN: 9783822825594
ASIN: 382282559X
Publication Date: October 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Follows the evolution and devolution of this distinctly American genre from 1924 to 1969
At the height of the Jazz Age, when Prohibition was turning ordinary citizens into criminals and ordinary criminals into celebrities, America's true crime detective magazines were born. True Detective came first in 1924, and by 1934, when the Great Depression had produced colorful outlaws like Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Babyface Nelson, and John Dillinger, the magazines were so popular cops and robbers alike vied to see themselves on the pages. Even FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover wrote regularly for what came to be called the "Dickbooks," referring to a popular slang term for the police. True Detective, American Detective, Inside Detective, Real Detective, Master Detective, Startling Detective and others were at their peak in the '30s, with gorgeous painted covers and Jim Thompson covering the crime beat. As the decades rolled on, the magazines went through a curious metamorphosis, however. When liquor was once more legal, the Depression over and all the flashy criminals dead or imprisoned, the "detectives" turned to sin to make sales. Sexy bad girls in tight sweaters, slit skirts and stiletto heels adorned every cover. Coverlines shouted "I Was a Girl Burglar For Kicks," "Sex Habits of Women Killers," "Bride of Sin!," "She Played Me for a Sucker," and most succinctly, "Bad Woman."
Hundreds of covers and interior images from dozens of magazine titles tell the story, not just of the "detectives," but also of America's attitudes towards sex, sin, crime and punishment over five decades. With texts by magazine collector Eric Godtland, George Hagenaur and True Detective editor Marc Gerald, True Crime Detective Magazines is an informative and entertaining look at one of the strangest publishing niches of all time.
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| Customer Reviews:
Point-of-purchase dicks October 30, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A wonderful wrap-up of this very down market publishing phenomenon whose main title, True Detective, was selling two million copies monthly in the late thirties. Not bad sales considering that it was competing against several dozen imitators on the newsstands. After the Second World War sales of the genre slowly declined decade after decade until the mid-nineties when the remaining eleven titles folded.
The 336 pages basically present the decades (from the twenties to the nineties) with hundreds of color covers and a nice touch I thought, quite a few inside spreads. The covers relied on paintings right up the sixties, so much better to exaggerate the sexuality of the distressed dame caught up in some criminal deviance. Contrived studio photos took over from art and all the while over-the-top cover lines promised far more than was inside: True Detective, February 1976 main cover was 14 VICTIMS FOR THE SEX-MAD `GORILLA MAN!' or True Police Cases, June 1968: SIN, SEX and SADISM in a MALE-FEMALE JAIL!
As well as all the covers there are some interesting chapters about the writers, cover artists and a spread about the leading publishers and their titles. The book's author Eric Godtland contributes a feature on the significance of females smoking on so many covers and Marc Gerald tells of his experiences as an editor for True Detective in 1989.
True Crime is a beautifully produced book in the Taschen series covering popular print culture. It belongs right next to their Men's Adventure Magazines and the six volume The History of Men's Magazines.
***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
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