J.K. Van Dover's Books

Making the Detective Story American

Biggers, Van Dine and Hammett and the Turning Point of the Genre, 1925-1930

By: J.K. Van Dover

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Making the Detective Story American

Biggers, Van Dine and Hammett and the Turning Point of the Genre, 1925-1930

By: J.K. Van Dover

This critical text examines the fiction of Earl Derr Biggers, S. S. Van Dine, and Dashiell Hammett during a crucial half-decade when they transformed the detective story. The characters they created, including Charlie Chan, Philo Vance, and the Continental Op, represented a new style of detective solving crimes in fresh ways. Their successes would push crime and detective fiction in startling and rejuvenating directions. Topics covered include the highbrow detective, the ethnic detective, the exploitation of contemporary sensations, and the exploitation of women. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

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Page Count

232

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786456892

ISBN 13

9780786456895

The Truman Gumshoes

The Postwar Detective Fiction of Mickey Spillane, Ross Macdonald, Wade Miller and Bart Spicer

By: J.K. Van Dover

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The Truman Gumshoes

The Postwar Detective Fiction of Mickey Spillane, Ross Macdonald, Wade Miller and Bart Spicer

By: J.K. Van Dover

The hard-boiled style of detective fiction emerged in America in the years after the First World War. In the late 1940s, following the Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War, a new generation of young writers revisited the conventions governing the fictional private eye, and began to move him (the tough detective was still always male) and his world in new directions. This book examines the work of the four most important writers of this second generation of hard-boiled fiction. It offers the first substantial literary analysis of the Max Thursday novels of Wade Miller and the Carney Wilde novels of Bart Spicer, and it develops new perspectives on the well-known Mike Hammer novels of Mickey Spillane and the Lew Archer novels of Ross Macdonald. A particular focus is upon the theme of the detective's status as a loner who succeeds in discovering truth and achieving justice because he works outside organized social structures.

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196

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McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

1476688028

ISBN 13

9781476688022

The Detective and the Artist

Painters, Poets and Writers in Crime Fiction, 1840s-1970s

By: J.K. Van Dover

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The Detective and the Artist

Painters, Poets and Writers in Crime Fiction, 1840s-1970s

By: J.K. Van Dover

This book focuses on the distinctive role that artists have played in detective fiction--as detectives, as villains and victims, and as bystanders. With a few significant exceptions, literary detectives have always identified themselves as essentially the deconstructors of the artful crimes of others. They may use various methods--ratiocinative, scientific, or hard-boiled--but they always unravel the threads that the villains have woven into deceptive covers for their crimes. The detective does, in the end, produce a work of art: a narrative that explains everything that needs explanation. But the detective's moral work is often juxtaposed to the aesthetic work of the painters, poets, and writers that the detective encounters during an investigation. The author surveys this juxtaposition in works by important authors from the early development of the genre (Poe, Conan Doyle), the golden age (Bentley, Christie, Sayers, James, et al.), and the hard-boiled era (Hammett, Chandler, Macdonald, Spicer et al.).

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197

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

1476635919

ISBN 13

9781476635910

The Judge Dee Novels of R.H. van Gulik

The Case of the Chinese Detective and the American Reader

By: J.K. Van Dover

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The Judge Dee Novels of R.H. van Gulik

The Case of the Chinese Detective and the American Reader

By: J.K. Van Dover

From 1949 to 1968 author Robert van Gulick wrote 15 novels, two novellas and eight short stories featuring Judge Dee, a Chinese magistrate and detective from the Tang dynasty. In addition to providing the setting for riveting mysteries, Dee's world highlighted aspects of traditional Chinese culture through his personal relationships with his wives, his lieutenants and the citizens he served with dedication on the emperor's behalf. This book gives a synopsis of each Judge Dee story, along with commentary on plots, characters, themes and historical details. Exploring van Gulik's influence on Chinese and Western detective fiction and on the image of China in popular 20th century American literature, this study brings to light a significant contributor to the development of detective fiction.

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265

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786496215

ISBN 13

9780786496211

The Judge Dee Novels of R.H. van Gulik

The Case of the Chinese Detective and the American Reader

By: J.K. Van Dover

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The Judge Dee Novels of R.H. van Gulik

The Case of the Chinese Detective and the American Reader

By: J.K. Van Dover

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Page Count

265

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786496215

ISBN 13

9780786496211

The Detective and the Artist

Painters, Poets and Writers in Crime Fiction, 1840s-1970s

By: J.K. Van Dover

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The Detective and the Artist

Painters, Poets and Writers in Crime Fiction, 1840s-1970s

By: J.K. Van Dover

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Page Count

197

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

1476635919

ISBN 13

9781476635910

The Truman Gumshoes

The Postwar Detective Fiction of Mickey Spillane, Ross Macdonald, Wade Miller and Bart Spicer

By: J.K. Van Dover

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The Truman Gumshoes

The Postwar Detective Fiction of Mickey Spillane, Ross Macdonald, Wade Miller and Bart Spicer

By: J.K. Van Dover

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Page Count

196

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

1476688028

ISBN 13

9781476688022

Book's by J.K. Van Dover

Making the Detective Story American

Making the Detective Story American

The Truman Gumshoes

The Truman Gumshoes

The Detective and the Artist

The Detective and the Artist

The Judge Dee Novels of R.H. van Gulik

The Judge Dee Novels of R.H. van Gulik

The Judge Dee Novels of R.H. van Gulik

The Judge Dee Novels of R.H. van Gulik

The Detective and the Artist

The Detective and the Artist

The Truman Gumshoes

The Truman Gumshoes

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