Masters of the "Humdrum" Mystery: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920-1961
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.55 (975 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B008CO9TW6 |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 425 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-11-30 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Curtis Evans, an independent scholar and book dealer, has published numerous articles and essays on detective fiction as well as an award-winning book on industry and labor in the American South. . He lives in Germantown, Tennessee
Hoorah for the Humdrums! Patrick To put it simply, Curt Evans's book is a bravura performance. He takes a look at three major mystery authors from the Golden Age: John Rhode/Miles Burton, Freeman Wills Crofts, and J. J. Connginton. All three men have been condemned to out-of-print hell, and when brought up by academics at all, the. An excellent, expertly written book on a particular group of Golden Age detective story writers, concentrating on 3 of them. Mr. Evans has written a thorough study of 3 of the principal writers of a group which Julian Symons, a noted writer and critic himself, derisevely called "humdrums". Taking the bull by the horns, the author manages to transform the insult implied in the term humdrum into a positive adjective.Mr. Ev. "MWA take note!" according to Allen J. Hubin. This is a marvelous work, thorough, well balanced, free of the clutter of academese. Edgar committee, Mystery Writers of America: take note!
"This is an important book of detective fiction history and criticism, with all the scholarly care and rigor of a first-rate academic study combined with an enjoyable literary style, an ideal combination for exploding a particularly pernicious piece of revisionist history. This should be a certain Edgar nominee." --Mystery Scene
This volume explores the works of three prominent British "Humdrums"--Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, and Alfred Walter Stewart--revealing their work to be more complex, as puzzles and as social documents, than Symons allowed. In 1972, in an attempt to elevate the stature of the "crime novel," influential crime writer and critic Julian Symons cast numerous Golden Age detective fiction writers into literary perdition as "Humdrums," condemning their focus on puzzle plots over stylish writing and explorations of character, setting and theme. By championing the intrinsic merit of these mystery writers, the study demonstrates that reintegrating the "Humdrums"