Bear Alley Books: Mean Streetmaps

Friday, March 11, 2011

Mean Streetmaps

Mean Streetmaps

SOLD OUT!

Bear Alley Books is proud to announce the publication of Mean Streetmaps, a collection of essays on crime noir ranging from the origins of hard-boiled writing in the pages of Black Mask, the novels of James M. Cain, W. R. Burnett and Mickey Spillane—and of their British copyists Ben Sarto, 'Griff' and Dail Ambler—to the movies of Joe Eszterhas and David Fincher. This eclectic collection also includes essays on the crime novels and movies of Hollywood's worst director, Edward D. Wood, Len Deighton's Harry Palmer novels, Sexton Blake's infamous nemesis, Zenith the Albino, and a new take on George Orwell's classic essay 'Raffles and Miss Blandish'.

Contents
Some Rats Have Two Legs [Griff]
"Let Me Die in Drag" [Edward D. Wood's crime films and novels]
You the Jury: Joe Eszterhas
Raffles and Richard Allen [George Orwell vs. Skinhead]
The Lady Holds a Gun [Dail Ambler]
Deadline for Crime [Duncan Webb fights the prostitute rackets]
In Self Defence [Pete Costello obscenity case]
Restless Predators [British gangsters]
Mean Streetmaps [Carroll John Daly and the origins of hard-boiled crime]
Waiting for Darkness [W. R. Burnett] (read a brief extract here)
You the Jury: Mickey Spillane
Twisted Hopes and Crooked Dreams [James M. Cain's Double Indemnity] (read a brief extract here)
White Hunter, Black Heart [Anthony Skene's Zenith the Albino]
"Ferociously Cool" [Len Deighton's Harry Palmer]
You the Jury: David Fincher
"I Kill 'Em Inch by Inch!" [Ben Sarto]

Reviews

"Given his personal sphere of interest, he is, as to be expected, always interesting and highly informative on the pulp underbrush of crime fiction as cultivated by such names as ‘Griff’, Ben Sarto and Dail Ambler – and if those names mean nothing to you, don’t worry about it; you are not alone. Expanding into more classical noir crime fiction, Holland also pens very decent essays on James M. Cain, Caroll John Daly and Black Mask magazine and first rate ones on W. R. Burnett and Mickey Spillane – of whom you certainly should have heard."—Mike Ripley, Getting Away With Murder, June 2011.

Format
Mean Streetmaps is published in hardback, 240 pages with a full colour dust jacket by Reginald (Heade) Webb.

Publication Date
Published 30 March 2011. Sold out 25 March 2012.

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