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Author Bedore, Pamela, 1972- author.

Title Dime Novels and the Roots of American Detective Fiction / Pamela Bedore, Department of English, University of Connecticut, USA
Published New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

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Description 1 online resource
Series Crime Files
Crime files series.
Contents 1. The Case of the Missing Detectives; or, Reassessing the American Contribution to Detective Fiction -- 2. The Happy-Ending Deception; or, Uncovering the Subversive Potential of Detective Dime Novels -- 3. The Case of the Contaminated Icon; or, Allan Pinkerton's Dangerous Detective Doubles -- 4. Playing with the Ace of Hearts; or, Mentorship, Sportsmanship, and Nick Carter's Epistemological Dilemmas -- 5. Faulkner, Twain and the Legacy of Dime Novel Detectives -- 6. Conclusions and Directions for Future Research
Summary "Why is detective fiction so popular? What connects such diverse characters as the armchair sleuth, the hardboiled dick, and the police detective? Dime Novels and the Roots of American Detective Fiction uncovers the significance of often-neglected dime novels in revealing early examples of the subgenres of detective fiction--drawing-room mysteries, hardboiled 'tough guy' fiction, police procedurals, and postmodern detective fiction--in the genre's first mass instantiation in the dime novels (1860-1915). A study of over 100 dime novel endings shows the prevalence of subversive representations of gender, race and class, while new readings of iconic detectives like Nick Carter and Allan Pinkerton reveal the enormous influence of these figures on future developments in the detective genre. The book argues that inherent tensions between subversive and conservative impulses--theorized as contamination and containment--explain detective fiction's ongoing popular appeal to readers and to writers such as Twain and Faulkner, whose detective writings are clearly informed by dime novels."-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Detective and mystery stories, American -- History and criticism
Pulp literature, American -- History and criticism
Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers -- English -- USA.
Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 -- English -- USA.
HISTORY -- Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies)
LITERARY CRITICISM -- American -- General.
LITERARY CRITICISM -- Mystery & Detective.
Literature.
Detective and mystery stories, American
Pulp literature, American
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781137288653
1137288655
9781137288646
1137288647