The first-ever biography of the most popular and most influential pulp writer of all time, written by the collaborator who knew him best

Beginning in 1947 with I, the Jury, and continuing with his next six novels, Mickey Spillane quickly amassed a readership in the tens of millions, becoming the bestselling novelist in the history of American publishing. Surrounded by controversy for the overt violence and suggestive sexual content of his iconic Mike Hammer private eye novels, Spillane was loathed by critics but beloved by his readers. And the success of his tough, hard-boiled writing left a lasting mark on the mystery genre, inspiring scores of followers and indelibly shaping crime fiction in the decades that followed.

There is, however, more to the life of Frank Morrison Spillane than his books. Born in Brooklyn, raised in New Jersey, the young son of a bartender worked as a circus performer and fighter pilot before his writing career took off, and, through writing, he went on to a career as an actor, a crimestopper, and a Miller Light spokesperson in commercials so popular they ran for a quarter of a century.

These stories and more are included in Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction, the definitive biography of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, written by the author’s friend and collaborator, Max Allan Collins, and pulp fiction scholar James L. Traylor.