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. Analyzing '70s texts about crime, police, detectives, corruption, paranoia and revenge, The American Thriller aims to open the debate on genre in light of audience theory, literary history, and the place of popular fiction at the moment of its production.
Author(s): Paul Cobley
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 254
Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 9
Introduction......Page 12
1 Firing the Generic Canon......Page 26
2 Reading the Space of the Seventies......Page 45
3 "The Luxury to Worry about Justice": Hard-boiled Style and Heroism......Page 66
4 What Do We "Believe" When We "See"? Views of Crime......Page 89
5 "Keeping That Sixth Ball in the Air": The Police......Page 111
6 Sambos or Superspades?......Page 134
7 Just Because You're Paranoid It Doesn't Mean They're Not Out to Get You......Page 157
8 "Thank God for the Rain...": Revenge From Dirty Harry to The Exterminator......Page 178
Conclusion......Page 200
Furthur Reading......Page 209
Notes......Page 219
References......Page 230
Index......Page 248
