Pulp fiction novels were wildly popular in the 1950's and 60's. These inexpensive paperback novels were filled with sex, some violence, cliches, and lots and lots of adjectives.

Stories with overtly sexual lesbian themes also became widespread during that time. They had provocative covers and seriously confusing synopses. They were billed as "Shocking!" and "Thrilling!" But what happens inside? Do the stories themselves make any more sense than the synopses do?

We went to the Lesbian Herstory Archives to investigate. The books tell tales of tropes we had hoped would have ended by now, i.e. a character hating men so she becomes a lesbian, and scenes that are still going strong, such as lesbians in jail cells. With some of them, we still have no idea what's going on. Oh, well. The covers are still brilliant.