Authors:
Comprehensively spans the entire twentieth-century, touching upon modernism all the way through contemporary crime writers like Nelson DeMille
Pioneers a larger discussion about the importance of lowbrow crime fiction, or what Swirski calls nobrow, within literary studies
Presents its argument through highly accessible yet engaging prose that will appeal to audiences of all kinds
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
Peter Swirski looks at American crime fiction as an artform that expresses and reflects the social and aesthetic values of its authors and readers. As such he documents the manifold ways in which such authorship and readership are a matter of informed literary choice and not of cultural brainwashing or declining literary standards. Asking, in effect, a series of questions about the nature of genre fiction as art, successive chapters look at American crime writers whose careers throw light on the hazards and rewards of nobrow traffic between popular forms and highbrow aesthetics: Dashiell Hammett, John Grisham, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Chandler, Ed McBain, Nelson DeMille, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Reviews
“Swirski is once again to be congratulated for integrating his extensive knowledge of literature, literary theory, and literary aesthetics and his insightful views on culture. American Crime Fiction is fascinatingly challenging in its take on America, on crime, on fiction, and on art. Anyone interested in any of these will have a great time reading it. The book has arguably more to offer to those interested in American history and culture … .” (Iris Vidmar, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 75 (3), 2017)
“With this book, Peter Swirski confirms his reputation as one of the most passionate, perceptive and entertaining analysts of popular/nobrow culture and its relation to American society. After reading it, you will never look upon crime fiction and American culture in the same way.” (Arthur Asa Berger, Professor Emeritus of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts, San Francisco State University, USA and author of “Media, Myth and Society”)
“Those who have not yet discovered Peter Swirski—one of our most challenging, entertaining, insightful, and gloriously outrageous cultural critics—should grab American Crime Fiction, his latest exploration of what he calls “nobrow” literature. Every page of this delightful excursion through landmark “beachbooks for intellectuals” makes us take new perspectives on many of our favorite unexamined assumptions about culture.” (H. Bruce Franklin, John Cotton Dana Professor of English and American Studies, Emeritus, Rutgers University—Newark, USA)
“Readable, insightful, and thought-provoking, with American Crime Fiction Peter Swirski has given us one of the very best critical studies of popular fiction and the culture of everyday life. Anyone interested in understanding crime fiction, popular fiction, or popular culture in general must read this book. It is a treasure!” (Gary Hoppenstand, Professor of American Studies, Michigan State University, USA)
“American Crime Fiction goes a long way toward erasing the artificial distinctions with which we have ring-fenced creative content. If you enjoy a particular work, including Peter Swirski’s, then enjoy it without guilt, without insecurity, without worrying about what the Times or the Man Booker committee might think.” (Aaron Schwabach, Professor of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
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Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Peter Swirski
About the author
Peter Swirski is a Canadian scholar and literary critic featured in Canadian Who's Who. Specialist in American literature and American studies, and Amazon's #1 Bestseller in American Literature, American History and Criticism, and Canadian Literary Criticism, he is the author of sixteen award-winning books, including the staple of American popular culture studies From Lowbrow to Nobrow (2005); a trio of bestsellers on American literature, culture, and politics: Ars Americana, Ars Politica (2010); American Utopia and Social Engineering (2011), and American Political Fictions (2015); and a tour de force on thinking and creative computers From Literature to Biterature (2013).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: American Crime Fiction
Book Subtitle: A Cultural History of Nobrow Literature as Art
Authors: Peter Swirski
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30108-2
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-30107-5Published: 02 August 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-79031-2Published: 14 March 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-30108-2Published: 15 July 2016
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 222
Topics: Twentieth-Century Literature, North American Literature, Contemporary Literature