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Palgrave Macmillan

The American Thriller

Generic Innovation and Social Change in the 1970s

  • Book
  • © 2000

Overview

Authors:
  1. Paul Cobley

    1. London Guildhall University, UK

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Part of the book series: Crime Files (CF)

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. Introduction

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 1-14

  3. Firing the Generic Canon

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 15-33

  4. Reading the Space of the Seventies

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 34-54

  5. ‘The Luxury to Worry about Justice’: Hard-boiled Style and Heroism

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 55-77

  6. What Do We ‘Believe’ When We ‘See’? Views of Crime

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 78-99

  7. ‘Keeping That Sixth Ball in the Air’: The Police

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 100-122

  8. Sambos or Superspades?

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 123-145

  9. Just Because You’re Paranoid It Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Out to Get You

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 146-166

  10. ‘Thank God for the Rain …’: Revenge From Dirty Harry to The Exterminator

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 167-188

  11. Conclusion

    • Paul Cobley
    Pages 189-197

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 198-242
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Keywords

About this book

What is the American thriller? Has it developed over time? What was it like in the past? This is a book about thrillers and gaining knowledge of what American thrillers were like in a specific period - the 1970s. Analysing seventies texts about crime, police, detectives, corruption, paranoia and revenge, The American Thriller aims to open debates on genre in the light of audience theory, literary history and the place of popular fiction at the moment of its production.

Reviews

"...[a] well-informed, theoretical book..." - The Times Literary Supplement

Authors and Affiliations

  • London Guildhall University, UK

    Paul Cobley

About the author

PAUL COBLEY is Reader in Communications at London Guildhall University.

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