Does NO ONE out there have an irony/humor detector?
Just turned in grades for my American Crime Fiction class, a
class which,
if you are a professor, I highly recommend teaching. A total
blast. The
kids loved the reading, and even when they hated it they had
tons of
(often) fascinating stuff to say about it. It was so great to
see people
read hard-boiled fiction with completely fresh eyes. I know
I'm a decent
teacher, but I swear the class taught itself. I just sort of
showed up and
directed traffic. I took a poll at the end of the term.
Top five stories: 1. "Human Interest Stuff" by Brett Halliday
(despite, or
perhaps because of, my extended -- and I might add hilarious
-- gay
reading of the story), 2. "Black Pudding" by David Goodis, 3.
"The
Scorched Face" by Dashiell Hammett, 4. "So Pale, So Cold, So
Fair" by
Leigh Brackett (my new favoritest writer), 5. "Piece of
Ground" by Helen
Nielsen [primary text for course was Pronzini and Adrian's
*Hard-Boiled*
though we read stories from other sources as well]. WORST
STORY:
"Corollary" by Hughes Allison (first EQMM story w/ black
detective working
in black community -- racial focus wasn't the problem -- they
loved Himes
and Mosley -- they just didn't think Allison was a good
writer. I tend to
agree)
Top two novels: *The Talented Mr. Ripley* by Patricia
Highsmith and *Devil
in a Blue Dress* by Walter Mosley. WORST novel: *Ride the
Pink Horse* by
Dorothy Hughes (my class and I part ways on this one)
I'm going to teach this class or a version of it every chance
I get. By
the way, I'm working on putting together a conference panel
on Chandler
and his infl. on Amer. Culture -- still in the earliest
planning stages --
with the eventual goal being a published collection of essays
on the
subject. It will be a challenge a. to find enough qualified
and interested
contributors, and b. to find contributors whose academic
writing I don't
find completely disagreeable. Anyway, if you are interested
or have ideas,
questions, or suggestions, just email me. More later.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael D. Sharp Email: msharp@umich.edu
Department of English Lang. and Lit. Phone: (313)
761-8776
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Fax: (313) 763-3128
On Wed, 29 Apr 1998, Andy Hughes wrote:
>
> James,
>
> The line from the Zombies song is "What's your
name?/Who's your daddy?"
> Granted there's a phononetic similarity with Hoosier,
but I doubt Rod
> Argent (the songwriter) spent a great deal of time in
Indiana. The term,
> by the way, has several folklore origins attached to
it. The most
> popular is that the word started as "Who's there?"
and was used when
> someone knocked on the door. Dan Quayle became quite
upset by a
> dictionary definition of a Hoosier as an "ignorant
rustic." As an
> Easterner now living in Indiana, I can't say the
indigenous population
> has done an exceptional job of disproving the
dictionary.
> Also, sorry for going so far off topic, but the
Zombies are one of my
> favorite '60s groups.
> Andy
>
>
> >----------
> >From: James
Stephenson[SMTP:James_E_Stephenson@umail.umd.edu]
> >Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 1998 7:59 AM
> >To: rara-avis@icomm.ca
> >Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: doing crank
> >
> >
> >Ed queried:
> >
> >> BTW, who or what are 'hoosiers'?
> >
> >People from Indiana, the Hoosier state. Surely a
man as familiar with
> >rock'n'roll as you remember the old Zombies song
"Time of the Season,"
> >containing the line "What's your name, hoosier
daddy?" ;-)
> >--
> >James Stephenson
> >Rare Books & Special Collections
Cataloger
> >McKeldin Library
> >University of Maryland
> >College Park, MD 20742
> >Mailto:js272@umail.umd.edu
> >#
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