HEMINGWAY'S BOOKSHELF - 'THE TEN-CENT SCARE'

Got an advance copy of "Ten-Cent Plague," a really interesting read that delves into the cultural paranoia of the '50s, the Red Scare and how it all ties into the censorship debate over comic books.

During the post-war era of the late '40s and early '50s, the gin-soaked dime-store comic was king -- churned out by legions of boilerplate scribes, illustrators, and editors in the Big Apple for a devoted young audience nationwide.

The glory days were brief. It wasn't long before multitudes of youth groups and civic authorities targeted these publications as gateway reading to moral depravity. After Mad-magazine founder Bill Gaines foundered in a sweaty, Dexedrine-fueled haze in front of televised congressional hearings on the link between juvenile delinquency and horror and crime magazines, virtually the entirety of comic-book publishing disappeared overnight. "The Ten-Cent Plague," written sharply by Hajdu looks back on the passions inflamed by the so-called comics scare.

Look for it in stores or online at Amazon March 18.