David Goodis

David Goodis (1917-1967) was an American noir fiction writer. Born in Philadelphia, Goodis studied at Indiana University for a year before transferring to Temple University, where he graduated in 1938 with a journalism degree. While working at an advertising agency, he started writing his first novel, Retreat from Oblivion. After it was published by Dutton in 1939, Goodis moved to New York City, where he wrote under several pseudonyms for pulp magazines, including Dime Mystery, Horror Stories, Terror Tales and Western Tales, sometimes churning out 10,000 words a day. Over a five-and-a-half-year period, he produced five million words for the pulp magazines.