The Mysterious Romance of Murder: Crime, Detection, and the Spirit of Noir

by David Lehman

Overview

From Sherlock Holmes to Sam Spade; Nick and Nora Charles to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin; Harry Lime to Gilda, Madeleine Elster, and other femmes fatales—crime and crime solving in fiction and film captivate us. Why do we keep returning to Agatha Christie's ingenious puzzles and Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled murder mysteries? What do spy thrillers teach us, and what accounts for the renewed popularity of morally ambiguous noirs? In The Mysterious Romance of Murder, the poet and critic David Lehman explores a wide variety of outstanding books and movies—some famous (The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity), some known mainly to aficionados—with style, wit, and passion.

Lehman revisits the smoke-filled jazz clubs from the classic noir films of the 1940s, the iconic set pieces that defined Hitchcock's America, the interwar intrigue of Eric Ambler's best fictions, and the intensity of attraction between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. He also considers the evocative elements of noir—cigarettes, cocktails, wisecracks, and jazz standards—and offers five original noir poems (including a pantoum inspired by the 1944 film Laura) and ironic astrological profiles of Barbara Stanwyck, Marlene Dietrich, and Graham Greene. Written by a connoisseur with an uncanny feel for the language and mood of mystery, espionage, and noir, The Mysterious Romance of Murder will delight fans of the genre and newcomers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501763625
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2022
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.95(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

David Lehman is a poet and writer whose many books include The Morning Line, Sinatra's Century, and One Hundred Autobiographies. He is the editor of The Oxford Book of American Poetry and The Best American Poetry series. He divides his time between Ithaca and New York City.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Mysterious Romance of Murder
Part I: Killer Style
1. Cracking Wise
2. Paradise of the Damned: Eighteen Notes on Noir
3. Poetry Noir
4. Five Noir Poems
"Perfidia"
"Laura"
"Witness to a Murder"
"The Formula"
"Just a Couple of Mugs"
Part II: The Elements of Crime
5. Here's to Crime!
6. The Last Cigarette
7. Among My Souvenirs
Part III: Auteurs
8. The Great British Spymasters
9. The Limits of Logic: Trent's Last Case (E. C. Bentley)
10. Dashiell Hammett's Priceless Patter
11. Paperclip (Raymond Chandler)
12. "Grim Grin" (Graham Greene)
13. Rex Stout: The Emperor of Couronne de Canard
14. Ida Lupino: The First Lady of Noir
15. Black Friday (David Goodis)
16. Orange Noir (Charles Willeford)
17. Ed McBain: The Man from Isola
18. Hitchcock's America
Part IV: Dreams That Money Can Buy
19. Straight Down the Line: Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944)
20. Strangers and Mirrors: Orson Welles's The Stranger (1946) and The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
21. An Exchange of Bullets in Belfast: Carol Reed's Odd Man Out (1947)
22. Blind Accidents: John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
23. Epitaph for a Genre: Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956)
24. Shadow of Evil: Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear (1962)
25. A Reluctant Spy's Conversion: William Holden in The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
26. Gangsters in Love: Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
27. Rogues' Gallery
28. Why Not New York?
Part V: The Imp of the Perverse
29. Three Astrological Profiles
Barbara Stanwyck (July 16)
Graham Greene (October 2)
Marlene Dietrich (December 27)

What People are Saying About This

Paul Auster

Books or films? Until now, travelers to the land of noir have tended to confine themselves to one province or the other, whereas veteran explorer David Lehman has mastered the language of both territories. His field report slides back and forth between page and screen with joyful confidence, offering sharp insights throughout and giving us not only the full picture but the full story as well. I am especially grateful to him for his delightful remarks on the importance of cigarettes, music, and wisecracks in these classic films, which only seem to get better as the years go on.

Nicholas Christopher

This is a masterwork in which Lehman's encyclopedic knowledge of film, literature, and cultural history is synthesized by way of lively exegesis, quotes, poems (his own), catalogs, mini-biographies, and eclectic, brilliantly illuminated byways, both classical and pulp. His vivid, chromatic style is what one expects from a poet and critic of Lehman's stature. The Mysterious Romance of Murder must take a prominent place, stylistically and critically, alongside Luc Sante's Low Life, Julian Symons's Bloody Murder, and Cyril Connolly's The Unquiet Grave. As with the very best mysteries—of the heart and the intellect—you can't put it down.

Paul Auster

Books or films? Until now, travelers to the land of noir have tended to confine themselves to one province or the other, whereas veteran explorer David Lehman has mastered the language of both territories. His field report slides back and forth between page and screen with joyful confidence, offering sharp insights throughout and giving us not only the full picture but the full story as well. I am especially grateful to him for his delightful remarks on the importance of cigarettes, music, and wisecracks in these classic films, which only seem to get better as the years go on.

Eddie Muller

Do yourself a favor and follow Lehman's lead on this idiosyncratic tour through the noir ethos in literature, poetry, music, and film. He's an erudite, insightful, and amusing tour guide, whether you're new to the terrain or a habitué."—Eddie Muller

Editorial Reviews

As one might expect from this distinguished poet and versatile man of letters, his sprightly new book isn't just deeply knowledgeable, it's also a lot of fun.

The Washington Post - Michael Dirda

The real originality of this book lies less in its critical comments than in its creativity. Lehman, who is also a poet, includes poems, his own and others', inspired by or imitating noir. He even offers a haiku. As if conversing with another aficionado, he compares favorite actors and moments, repeats favorite wisecracks, and tries to recreate the pleasure of the initial experience. In his casual way he also sparks ideas. How often does a critical book actually make one want to read the books it discusses?

The Times Literary Supplement

Lehman's exuberant collection of essays, poems, and annotated lists captures the manifold associations stirred by a lifetime's attention to crime fiction and movies, touching on everything from wisecracks to cigarettes to musical soundtracks to Kenneth Fearing as "the patron saint of poetry noir."

New York Review of Books