Customer Reviews

Adventure, Mystery, and Romance: Formula Stories as Art and Popular Culture (Phoenix Series)

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I recommended this book to a student yesterday and I was very surprised to see that it had not yet been reviewed on Amazon.com. The book is an absolute classic--the beginning point for any serious study of category fiction. As the title implies, the book covers mysteries, westerns, romances, social melodramas--the full spectrum of genre writing. It does so in ways that are both historical and theoretical and it does so for a wide audience. Academics have used this book for a generation and general readers will find it fascinating, accessible, thoughtful and enjoyable. What are the roots of genre fiction? Why do we read it? Who are its most successful practitioners? How do we differentiate among various forms, including cozies and American noir? This is the place to start. It is both 'introductory' and magisterial. Very highly recommended.