The American Thriller Generic Innovation and Social Change in the 1970s

by Cobley, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780333776681
• ISBN10: 0333776682
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-13
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

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 Biography

Paul Cobley is Senior Lecturer in Communications, London Guildhall University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	viii
Introduction	1	(14)
Firing the Generic Canon	15	(19)
Reading the Space of the 1970s	34	(21)
`The Luxury to Worry about Justice': Hard-boiled Style and Heroism	55	(23)
What Do We `Believe' When We `See'? Views of Crime	78	(22)
`Keeping That Sixth Ball in the Air': The Police	100	(23)
Sambos or Superspades?	123	(23)
Just Because You're Paranoid It Doesn't Mean They're Not Out to Get You	146	(21)
`Thank God for the Rain...': Revenge from Dirty Harry to The Exterminator	167	(22)
Conclusion	189	(9)
Further Reading	198	(10)
Notes	208	(11)
References	219	(18)
Index	237