America Noir Underground Writers and Filmmakers of the Postwar Era

by COCHRAN, DAVID

• ISBN13: 9781588342188
• ISBN10: 1588342182
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-22
• Publisher: Smithsonian Books

Summary

InAmerica NoirDavid Cochran details how ten writers and filmmakers challenged the social pieties prevalent during the Cold War, such as the superiority of the American democracy, the benevolence of free enterprise, and the sanctity of the suburban family. Rod Sterling'sThe Twilight Zonefeatured victims of vast, faceless, bureaucratic powers. Jim Thompson's noir thrillers, such asThe Grifters, portrayed the ravages of capitalism on those at the bottom of the social ladder. Patricia Highsmith, inThe Talented Mr. Ripley, placed an amoral con man in an international setting, implicitly questioning America's fitness as leader of the free world. Charles Willeford's pulp novels, such asWild WivesandWoman Chaser, depicted the family as a hotbed of violence and chaos. These artists pioneered a detached, ironic sensibility that radically juxtaposed cultural references and blurred the distinctions between "high" and "low" art. Their refusal to surrender to the pressures for political conformity and their unflinching portrayal of the underside of American life paved the way for the emergence of a 1960s counterculture that forever changed the way America views itself.

Author Biography

David Cochran earned his PhD in American history from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He currently teaches at John A. Logan College and lives with his wife, three children, and four cats in Herrin, Illinois.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Preface: Mapping the Underground Culture	p. xi
Introduction: Within the Shell of the Old: The Creation of the Cold War Consensus and the Emergence of the Underground Culture	p. 1
The Killer inside Me: Roman Noir Authors	p. 17
Slipping Deeper into Hell: Jim Thompson's Theology of Absurdity	p. 19
"It's Always for Nothing": The Paperback Worldview of Charles Willeford	p. 39
Progress and Its Discontents: Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors	p. 53
"I'm Being Ironic": Imperialism, Mass Culture, and the Fantastic World of Ray Bradbury	p. 55
The Devil and Charles Beaumont	p. 73
Outside Looking In: Minority Artists	p. 89
"So Much Nonsense Must Make Sense": The Black Vision of Chester Himes	p. 91
"Some Torture That Perversely Eased": Patricia Highsmith and the Everyday Schizophrenia of American Life	p. 114
Little Shop of Horrors: Independent Filmmakers	p. 131
"Lots of Socko": The Independent Cinematic Vision of Samuel Fuller	p. 133
Roger Corman's Low-Budget Modernism	p. 151
Cracks in the Consensus: Liberal Artists	p. 173
Richard Condon and the Paranoid Surreal Style in American Politics	p. 175
Another Dimension: Rod Serling, Consensus Liberalism, and The Twilight Zone	p. 194
Conclusion: The Emancipation of Dissonance	p. 215
Notes	p. 223
Bibliography	p. 261
Index	p. 275
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