Description
Book SynopsisA scholarly exploration of Elmore Leonardprovides original essays and fresh insights on the author's works and influence
Labelled as the closest thing America has to a national novelist, Elmore Leonard''s clean and direct writing, engaging bad guys, and deadpan humor resonate with readers around the nation and throughout the world. Popular films based on his books continue to introduce new audiences to Leonard''s unique way of engaging with complex themes of American culture and pop-culture history. Yet surprisingly, academic treatments of his writing are almost nonexistent. Critical Essays on Elmore Leonard is an original anthology that covers the topics, themes, literary and narrative style, and enduring influences of one of the finest crime writers in the history of the genre.
This unique collection of essays explores the ways in which Leonard's work reflects America''s dynamic, ever-changing culture. Divided into two parts, the book first examines maj
Table of Contents
Notes on Contributors vii
Introduction 1
Charles J. Rzepka
Part I Topics and Themes 9
1 Nostalgia and Authenticity in Elmore Leonard’s Conflicted Heroes 11
Michael Scrivener
2 Elmore Leonard and the Romantic Comedy, or “Get Some Love into It” 27
Michael Sinowitz
3 The Sense of Place in Elmore Leonard’s Crime Fiction 41
David Geherin
4 Visual Clues: Dress, Appearance, and Perception in Elmore Leonard’s Crime Fiction 57
Frankie Y. Bailey
5 The Mozart of the Motor City: Elmore Leonard and Noir Buffa 73
Kris Mecholsky
Part II Five Case Studies 93
6 The Man with Five Names: Hombre on Race and the Cinematic Western 95
Korine Powers
7 Pitching Cinematic Identification in Get Shorty 113
Philip Derbesy
8 “It’s the way they’re done”: Style and Legerdemain in Out of Sight 127
Charles J. Rzepka
9 Moral Luck and Determinism in Rum Punch 147
Rossitsa Terzieva-Artemis
10 Disjointed Djibouti: Elmore Leonard’s Final Metafiction 165
George Grella and Charles J. Rzepka
Index 183
