Detecting Fiction

ISBN-13: 9783639136548 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 140 str.

Tim Thurman

Opis

This book belongs to an unusual genre that might wellbe called personal criticism, sharing as it doescharacteristics of both literary criticism and the personal essay. It is anexploration of detective fiction, investigating why I like certain mysterywriters (or not) and trying to detect whether there is more artistic meritin their writing than simply proficient plotting and energetic action. The first essay is a general inquiry into the thriller/detective genre,looking at various authors and why I either like or dislike them; thesecond considers three classic writers of the so-called noir mystery(Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald); and the thirdexamines a characteristic that many hard-boiled detectivesdisplay, namely, that each has been damaged in some way, either socially orpsychologically. The thrust of these essays is not simply to displaymy taste but to discern as well whether and what kinds of literarymerit is to be found in the writers I consider.

O autorze

Dr. Thurman has studied religion, psychology, education, and
computer science, but
his true love has always been English literature and language.
Reading thrillers and
detective novels began as a simple diversion but later developed
into a serious
interest. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas, and teaches at colleges
in the area.