Combining theoretical and practical approaches, this collection of essays explores classic detective fiction from a variety of contemporary viewpoints. Among the diverse perspectives are those which interrogate the way the genre reflects important social and cultural attitudes, contributes to a reader's ability to adapt to the challenges of daily life, and provides alternate takes on the role of the detective as an investigator and arbiter of truth.
Part I looks at the nature of and the audience for detective fiction, as well as at the genre as a literary form. This section includes an...
Combining theoretical and practical approaches, this collection of essays explores classic detective fiction from a variety of contemporary viewpoi...
The detective, as a preeminent figure in all forms of American popular culture, has become the subject of a variety of theoretical exploration. By investigating that figure, these essays demonstrate how the genre embodies all the contradictions of American society and the ways in which literature and the media attempt to handle those contradictions. Issues of class, gender, and race; the interaction of film and literature; and generic evolution are fundamental to any understanding of the American detective in all of his or her forms.
Beginning with essays about Raymond...
The detective, as a preeminent figure in all forms of American popular culture, has become the subject of a variety of theoretical exploration. By ...
The classic novel of greed and vice from F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in an era of intoxicating excitement and ruinous excess, changing manners and challenged morals, F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel chronicles the lives of Harvard-educated Anthony Patch and his beautiful, willful wife, Gloria. This bitingly ironic story eerily foretells the fate of the author and his own wife, Zelda--from its giddy romantic beginnings to its alcohol-fueled demise. A portrait of greed, ambition, and squandered talent, The Beautiful and Damned depicts an America embarked on the greatest spree...
The classic novel of greed and vice from F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in an era of intoxicating excitement and ruinous excess, changing manners...
Years after his death, F. Scott Fitzgerald continues to captivate both the popular and the critical imagination. This collection of essays presents fresh insights into his writing, discussing neglected texts and approaching familiar works from new perspectives.
Seventeen scholarly articles deal not only with Fitzgerald's novels but with his stories and essays as well, considering such topics as the Roman Catholic background of "The Beautiful and Damned" and the influence of Mark Twain on Fitzgerald's work and self-conception. The volume also features four personal essays by Fitzgerald's...
Years after his death, F. Scott Fitzgerald continues to captivate both the popular and the critical imagination. This collection of essays presents...
Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture is the first serious study of the singer/actor's art and of his centrality to the history of twentieth-century popular music, film, and the entertainment industry. The volume uses a wide range of scholarly and cultural perspectives to explore Crosby's unique and lasting achievements. It also includes tributes and reminiscences from Bing's widow Kathryn, his grandson Steve, his record producer Ken Barnes, and one of his most popular successors, Michael Feinstein. Other contributors include Gary Giddins, the author of a widely acclaimed recent...
Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture is the first serious study of the singer/actor's art and of his centrality to the history of twentieth-...
