A slew of research went into the writing of Paperback Jack. The following sources were among the most valuable:
Gruber, Frank. The Pulp Jungle. Los Angeles: Sherbourne Press, 1967. Gruber comes off as a cheat, a bully, and a sore loser; but hack that he was, his experiences writing for the pulp market in its declining years cast a strong light on a nearly forgotten culture.
O’Brien, Geoffrey. Hardboiled America: The Lurid Years of Paperbacks. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981. This 144-page hardcover is a compact delight, for its comprehensive history of the paperback revolution, excerpts from transcripts from the hearings held in 1952 by the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials (the model for the House Select Committee on Pornography and Juvenile Delinquency), and sixteen scrumptious pages of full-color reproductions of lurid paperback covers. The artists, anonymous in their time, receive proper recognition here.
Server, Lee. Danger Is My Business: An Illustrated History of the Fabulous Pulp Magazines: 1896–1953. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1993. Server, well-known for his classic movie-star biographies, provides us with a coffee table–size trade paperback stuffed with color illustrations of covers and a straightforward narrative of the history of the pulp magazine industry from Buffalo Bill to Ray Bradbury. A handy appendix helps guide the reader through the world of pulp collecting.
Server, Lee. Over My Dead Body: The Sensational Age of the American Paperback: 1945–1955. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1994. This companion volume to Danger Is My Business gives the same full Server treatment to the territory previously covered by Geoffrey O’Brien. Once again, he “serves up” stunning four-color covers, names for the nameless, and details on the development of modern American literature.
Finally, I cannot recommend too strenuously the original works of Leigh Brackett, Harlan Ellison, David Goodis, Donald Hamilton, Chester Himes, John D. MacDonald, Richard Matheson, Horace McCoy, William P. McGivern, Les Savage, Jr., Gordon D. Shirreffs, and Jim Thompson; and of as many of their fellow pioneers who await your discovery. You will find many of them in garage sales, used bookstores, and in new editions released by respected publishers—including the prestigious Library of America.