As the weather warms and spring morphs into a long rejuvenating summer, a group in New York City has devised a way to wring the most out of the upcoming season. Formed when two pulp aficionados learned that in NYC women can legally go topless anywhere it’s legal for men do so, the Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society combines reading and sun worship in the most pleasing way. They meet in Central Park, private rooftops, and anywhere else that suits their fancy. They’ve been around for several years, but this year their story has been picked up by media outlets such as The Guardian and Huffington Post. They aren’t quite what you’d call a viral sensation yet, but certainly their reach has expanded of late. Since we’ve been combining pulp with bare bodies for years, we thought we’d better join the chorus of support.
In our little nook of the world a four-block walk puts us plop on the nude end of our local beach. Perhaps that’s why when we wandered over to the Society’s blog, it was the pulp that interested us more than the skin. On that score we have to say that the group almost looks like a publicity arm for Hard Case Crime. Not that there’s anything wrong with Hard Case or its many entertaining publications. The company filled a market void with
shinily packaged, much-appreciated pulp novels. But in our opinion, the true pulp aficionado finds it just as much fun to dig through the musty shelves of a dark, ancient bookshop as to loll in the sunshine. When we see photos of Society members enjoying the scuffed and moldy fruits of New York’s famed secondhand bookstores we’ll know they’re true pulp fans. In the meantime you can learn all about them here.
