Pulphead

Pulphead

First edition
Author	John Jeremiah Sullivan
Language	English
Genre	Essay Collection
Publisher	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date	2011
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print Paperback
Pages	369 pp
ISBN	978-0-374-53290-1
Dewey Decimal	080—dc23

Pulphead is an essay collection by the American writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan. Pulphead has been named a 2011 New York Times Notable Book, ^[1] a Time Magazine Top 10 Nonfiction Book of 2011, ^[2] and one of Amazon's Best of the Month for November 2011. ^[3]

Sullivan's essay "Mr. Lytle: An Essay," which recounts his time spent living with a then geriatric Andrew Nelson Lytle, won a 2011 National Magazine Award ^[4] and a 2011 Pushcart Prize. ^[5]

Original Publishing Home of Pulphead Essays

The Paris Review

• "Mister Lytle", published in Pulphead as "Mr. Lytle: An Essay"
• "Unnamed Caves", on American cave art

GQ

• "The Last Wailer", on Bunny Wailer
• "Back in the Day", on Michael Jackson, published in Pulphead as "Michael"
• "The Final Comeback of Axl Rose", on Axl Rose
• "Upon This Rock", on a visit to a Christian rock festival
• "American Grotesque", on the Tea Party movement
• "Violence of the Lambs", on the coming war between animals and humans
• "Peyton's Place", on Sullivan's house being used as a filming location for the show One Tree Hill

Harper's Magazine

• "Unknown Bards", on the history of blues music.

Critical reception

According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" reviews based on twenty-two critic reviews with twenty being "rave" and two being "positive". ^[6] On The Omnivore, a British aggregator of press reviews, the book received an "omniscore" of 4.5 out of 5. ^[7] Prosenotes gave it a "A" (100%) from critic reviews. The consensus says: "‘Pulphead’ is a collection of insightful, honest, and touching non-fiction essays. Few could find anything bad to say about this book. It’s a Prosenotes Pick!". ^[8]

References

1. "100 Notable Books of 2011". The New York Times. 21 November 2011.
2. "The Top 10 of Everything 2011". Time. 7 December 2011. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012.
3. "Best Books of the Month: November 2011". Amazon.
4. "The Paris Review Wins National Magazine Award".
5. "John Jeremiah Sullivan Wins Prize, Does Paris Review Proud".
6. "Pulphead: Essays". Book Marks. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
7. "Pulphead: Dispatches from the Other Side of America". The Omnivore. Archived from the original on 31 Dec 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
8. "'Pulphead' by John Jeremiah Sullivan". Prosenotes. Archived from the original on 8 Nov 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2024.

External links

• Review by James Wood in The New Yorker
• New York Times Review