Black Mask: Noir at its Best

The one part of research for my book that I enjoyed most was learning about Black Mask, a pulp magazine where some amazing writers (including Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett) got their start.

It was founded in 1920 by by journalist H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan as a way to help support their literary publication. Black Mask peaked in the 1930s at the height of interest in noir detective stories, but radio and TV soon filled that niche. Even so, the magazine continued until 1987.

Writers like Chandler (The Big Sleep, The Long Kiss Goodbye) were initially dismissed as lowbrow "pulp writers," but Chandler is now considered one of America's greatest literary writers.