American pulp fiction first appeared on cheap, wood pulp paper. In the early 20th century, it lived in fiction magazines that cost no more than a dime.

These disposable magazines were the home of so-called "genre" fiction: thrillers, romances, noir crime stories, westerns, science fiction, and horror. The stories appealed to a wide audience (especially the young working class) due to overt violence and sexuality. It was rid of the stiff morality of competing literary fiction.

Pulp publishers didn't pay their authors much, but the weekly publication schedule meant that many young, untested authors found their homes and honed their talents by writing for them. Established writers would contribute to the magazines for a steady paycheck between larger projects. Revered authors like Rudyard Kipling, Jack London, and Tennessee Williams all wrote for the pulps at one time or another.

Despite their low reputation for being disposable fiction, many pulp magazines published innovative, well-written stories by authors who in a few decades would be lauded for their skills.

These novels and short story collections broke new ground as to what was expected of pulp fiction. From the autobiographical impulse of Raymond Chandlers The Long Goodbye to the influential genre-mashing of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter series, these pulp novels are worth way more than the paper they're printed on.