Sign-In
Cart
Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the Worst in Mystery Fiction
Paperback
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 0486814793
ISBN13: 9780486814797
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: Apr 19 2017
Pages: 272
Weight: 0.60
Height: 0.50 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
ISBN13: 9780486814797
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: Apr 19 2017
Pages: 272
Weight: 0.60
Height: 0.50 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
This is fabulously funny stuff. -- John D. MacDonald
Bill Pronzini surveys the worst crime fiction -- not just the average inferior product, but the junk classics, works that achieve a heroic degree of badness. No brief summary can do justice to Mr. Pronzini's researches. -- The New York Times
Bill Pronzini surveys the worst crime fiction -- not just the average inferior product, but the junk classics, works that achieve a heroic degree of badness. No brief summary can do justice to Mr. Pronzini's researches. -- The New York Times
Welcome to the very best of the very worst in 20th-century mystery writing. Author Bill Pronzini takes a good-natured look at the genre's alternative classics in a retrospective of unintentionally hilarious crime fiction. Populated by the usual private eyes, arch-villains, amateur sleuths, and femmes fatales, these tales offer uniquely amusing reading that's as memorable in its own way as the works of the great mystery writers.
In addition to their pure entertainment value, these excerpts and witty appraisals of the worst in mystery fiction provide a historical perspective on the development and mores of modern-day crime stories. Featured writers include not only many unsung heroes of pulp fiction but also authors who were popular in their day. Pronzini presents background on the field's subgenres and publishers as well as incisive commentary on the social attitudes reflected by the stories. Advanced and dedicated devotees will appreciate the comprehensive bibliography, which will steer them toward -- or away from -- these neglected gems.
In addition to their pure entertainment value, these excerpts and witty appraisals of the worst in mystery fiction provide a historical perspective on the development and mores of modern-day crime stories. Featured writers include not only many unsung heroes of pulp fiction but also authors who were popular in their day. Pronzini presents background on the field's subgenres and publishers as well as incisive commentary on the social attitudes reflected by the stories. Advanced and dedicated devotees will appreciate the comprehensive bibliography, which will steer them toward -- or away from -- these neglected gems.
Also in
Literary Criticism
An Empire of Air and Water: Uncolonizable Space in the British Imagination, 175-185
Carroll, Siobhan
Hardcover
$118.80
Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times
Sachs, Aaron
Hardcover
$67.50
Queer Faith: Reading Promiscuity and Race in the Secular Love Tradition
Sanchez, Melissa E.
Paperback
$56.55
Ancient Rome at the Cinema: Story and Spectacle in Hollywood and Rome
Theodorakopoulos, Elena
Paperback
$88.49
How to Be a Cat: (Cat Books for Kids, Cat Gifts for Kids, Cat Picture Book)
Swerling, Lisa
Lazar, Ralph
Hardcover
$4.99
Hidden Hemingway: Inside the Ernest Hemingway Archives of Oak Park
Vetch, Aaron
Cirino, Mark
Elder
Hardcover
$37.95
Dante's Vita Nuova, New Edition: A Translation and an Essay
Pitavy, Francois
Alighieri, Dante
Paperback
$33.00
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines (Large Print Edition)
Foster, Thomas C.
Paperback
$30.40
Much ADO about Nothing: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Shakespeare, William
Sparknotes
Paperback
$7.59
Twelfth Night: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Sparknotes
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
From $4.99
Penelope's Bones: A New History of Homer's World Through the Women Written Out of It
Hauser, Emily
Paperback
$19.00
Romeo and Juliet: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Shakespeare, William
Sparknotes
Paperback
From $4.99
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
Saunders, George
Paperback
$18.90
Mythology (75th Anniversary Illustrated Edition): Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
Hamilton, Edith
Hardcover
From $12.99
Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise
Rundell, Katherine
Hardcover
$16.19
Mean Dads for a Better America: The Generous Rewards of an Old-Fashioned Childhood
Shillue, Tom
Paperback
$15.19
The Language of the Night: Essays on Writing, Science Fiction, and Fantasy
Le Guin, Ursula K.
Paperback
$17.09
But Have You Read the Book? Romance Edition: 40 Love Stories That Inspired Our Favorite Films
Lopez, Kristen
Hardcover
$19.00
Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend
Romney, Rebecca
Paperback
$18.90
Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance: The Forgotten Founding Mothers of the Fairy Tale and the Stories That They Spun
Harrington, Jane
Hardcover
$28.50
Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear: A. A. Milne and the Creation of Winnie-The-Pooh
Brandreth, Gyles
Hardcover
$29.70
A Midsummer Night's Dream: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Shakespeare, William
Sparknotes
Paperback
$7.59
Darkness Becomes Bright: On the Brief Life and Immortal Art of Edgar Allan Poe
Ogden, Emily
Hardcover
$28.50
Julius Caesar: No Fear Shakespeare Side-By-Side Plain English
Sparknotes
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
From $4.99
The Odyssey: An Illustrated Guide: A Character-By-Character Guide to the Story of Odysseus
Metzger, Doug
Hardcover
$17.10
The Jane Austen Insult Guide for Well-Bred Women: Serving Tea with a Side of Scorn
Reed, Emily
Hardcover
$14.25
The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to World Literature, Revised and Expanded
Major, John S.
Fadiman, Clifton
Paperback
$18.99
The Dream Factory: London's First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare
Swift, Daniel
Hardcover
$28.50
The Greek Tragedies: Seventeen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides
Euripides
Aeschylus
Sophocles
Paperback
$23.75
A Treacherous Secret Agent: How Literature Spoke Truth to Power During the Red Scare
Garber, Marjorie
Hardcover
$28.50
Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Palmer, Ada
Walton, Jo
Hardcover
$28.79