Postmodern fiction presents a challenge to the reader: instead of enjoying it passively, the reader has to work to understand its meanings, to think about what fiction is, and to question their own responses. Yet this very challenge makes postmodern writing so much fun to read and rewarding to study[...]

Since its earliest days the private detective has been a constant presence in cinema. This book traces the history of the private-eye movie, from its emergence in a handful of influential film noirs in the 1940s, through its slow and brilliant decline in 1970s 'neo-noir' cinema, to the passing of it[...]

By broadening the focus beyond classic English detective fiction, the American hard-boiled' crime novel and the gangster movie, Crime Cultures breathes new life into staple themes of crime fiction and cinema. Leading international scholars from the fields of literary and cultural studies analyze a r[...]