The Working File

I recently finished reading The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, by Paul Malmont. It is a novel that recalls the pulp fiction from the 1930s, a form of mass entertainment that probably occupied the space that comic books later came to fill. The novel evokes that era, and that fiction, in two ways. The novel itself is in the pulp style, but it also is populated by real-life characters, mostly the authors of the most famous pulps. The main characters are Walter Gibson, creator of the Shadow, and Lester Dent, creator of Doc Savage. The writer-characters take on some of the heroic characteristics of the pulp characters they created. Many other more famous people, some but not lal of them writers, populate the novel. It is a lot of fun and I recommend it highly.

On top of everything else, I appreciate that it introduced me to the Doc Savage Code. Besides being a part of the pulp, apparently boys were able to join a Doc Savage Club, and the membership card carried this on the back:

Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it.
Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice.
Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage.
Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do.
Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.

Frankly, I’m very impressed with this. If I were to come up with something like this myself, I think I would add a reference to God, but otherwise this is pretty complete in a tight, compact package. If I had sons, I’d be more than happy to have them read stories that urged them to live up to this.
It’s not bad for girls, either, but I’m not sure mine would be interested. Myself, I think I might try to pick up some of the stories, and well, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try to live up to it.