Delightful Murder: A Social History Of The Crime Story
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What makes murder so irresistibly entertaining? In Delightful Murder: A Social History of the Crime Story, renowned Marxist economist and cultural theorist Ernest Mandel presents a brilliantly provocative argument: that the crime fiction genre is not merely escapist entertainment, but a deeply ideological art form that mirrors the anxieties, contradictions, and power structures of capitalist society. From the penny dreadfuls of the Victorian era to the hard-boiled noir of Raymond Chandler and the psychological suspense of Patricia Highsmith, Mandel chronicles the evolution of the crime story as a cultural artefact, dissecting the social and economic forces that shaped its conventions, heroes, and villains. Mandel argues with characteristic intellectual rigour that the genre's enduring mass appeal is no accident — it is a symptom of a society simultaneously fascinated by and fearful of transgression, violence, and justice. His analysis cuts across class, ideology, and literary tradition, placing the crime novel within a sweeping framework of historical materialism that is as illuminating as it is challenging. Written with the clarity and conviction of a scholar unafraid of bold conclusions, Delightful Murder is essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered why we find such pleasure in fictional bloodshed — and what that pleasure reveals about the world we inhabit.
Author: Ernest Mandel
Format: Paperback
Genre: True crime
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What makes murder so irresistibly entertaining? In Delightful Murder: A Social History of the Crime Story, renowned Marxist economist and cultural theorist Ernest Mandel presents a brilliantly provocative argument: that the crime fiction genre is not merely escapist entertainment, but a deeply ideological art form that mirrors the anxieties, contradictions, and power structures of capitalist society. From the penny dreadfuls of the Victorian era to the hard-boiled noir of Raymond Chandler and the psychological suspense of Patricia Highsmith, Mandel chronicles the evolution of the crime story as a cultural artefact, dissecting the social and economic forces that shaped its conventions, heroes, and villains. Mandel argues with characteristic intellectual rigour that the genre's enduring mass appeal is no accident — it is a symptom of a society simultaneously fascinated by and fearful of transgression, violence, and justice. His analysis cuts across class, ideology, and literary tradition, placing the crime novel within a sweeping framework of historical materialism that is as illuminating as it is challenging. Written with the clarity and conviction of a scholar unafraid of bold conclusions, Delightful Murder is essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered why we find such pleasure in fictional bloodshed — and what that pleasure reveals about the world we inhabit.