 The novel's title summarizes both its literary and cultural messages.“Yellow Back” references the traditionally yellow covers of lurid dime Westerns, while “Radio” references Reed's strategy of writing the book in an oral, broadcast tradition.In a 1974 interview, Reed states that he “based the book on old radio scripts in which the listener constructed the sets with his imagination; that’s why 'radio'; also because it’s an oral book, a talking book…there’s more dialogue than scenery or description.” The “broke-down” indicates a deconstruction of the traditional American Western novel.