This fascinating and meticulously researched book tells a compelling story about the most successful independent Australian publisher, Horwitz, in the mid-20th century. Nette argues that Horwitz impacted the Australian book industry and Australian reading practices by its innovative adoption of merchandising practices and its ability to tread the fine line between feeding readers the salacious and sensationalist fare they wanted while keeping the censors at bay. This is a valuable and immensely readable story about the Americanisation of Australian popular fiction in the mid-twentieth century and the Australianisation of American genres at the same time.” — Hsu-Ming Teo, Associate Professor and Head of Department, Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature, Macquarie University, AUS.
“Nette is a great storyteller, attending to texts, books as artifacts, production, and marketing in narrating the cultural history of paperbacks in Australia. He makes a major contribution to the international study of pulp paperbacks by investigating how the particular economic and political circumstances of Australia shaped the market.” — Erin Smith, Professor of American Studies, The University of Texas at Dallas, USA.
"This book provides readers with a detailed, thoughtful and revelatory account of Australia’s post-war “pulp fiction” publishing industry as it primarily focuses on a historically neglected phase of Australian popular (mass) culture." — Kevin Patrick, Adjunct Professor, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University, USA.
"Horwitz Publications is an effective populariser of Australian literature. It negotiates the circuit of modern publishing—production, distribution, and reception—in a way that shaped the Australian book market itself. The topic of study and Nette’s style of writing would appeal to many general readers, including fan cultures built up around (Australian) pulp fiction and librarians and archivists who are invested in studying popular literature." — Kinohi Nishikawa, Associate Professor of English and African American Studies, Princeton University, USA.
