I didn't know this thread was still alive, but I thought I'd mention a book I own called "The Poetics of Murder," an anthology of essays by such academic lights as Jacques Lacan, Umberto Eco, and Roland Barthes. They touch on Sherlock Holmes, Hammett, Chandler, Agatha Christie, et al. So I don't think it's fair to say all academics look down on the fiction this list esteems (though some do, certainly).
I'm the author of a couple of novels, and I'm currently trying to write a book in the noir tradition. And it's no easier or more difficult than anything else I've written. Writing is writing, and good writing takes work.
So I'm back to work.
Lawrence
Lawrence Coates
Associate Professor of Creative Writing
Bowling Green State University
________________________________________
From: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com [rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Michael Jeter [michael.damian.jeter@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 10:00 AM
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: half-time job for mystery novelist
And I supppose I should have piped up. While I no longer plan to
use it for my thesis -- a thesis in composition and rhetoric
proves much more marketable than what would ammount, in many eyes,
to another American fiction thesis -- I do plan on writing a book on
the detective as father/mentor figure.
And once I get a full time job, while most of my teaching revolves
around the political essay/speech, I will always look for ways to
work detective fic into my class.
-- Michael Damian Jeter New Orleans, LA Literacy, Music, and Democracy
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