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05:26

Spillane's Mark on Detective Fiction

How can a nice girl fall for a trench-coated tough guy who treats women like dirt and ridicules book-reading sissies? Our book critic tries to fathom the appeal of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer.

Review
15:15

The Man Who Gave Us Mike Hammer

Crime writer Mickey Spillane died Monday at age 88. Spillane was most famous for his sex- and violence-drenched Mike Hammer detective novels. His titles include Kiss Me Deadly and I the Jury. While critics rarely praised Spillane, his books were bestsellers. This interview originally aired on Nov. 22, 1989.

Obituary
05:42

Books 2005: Maureen Corrigan's Favorites

Fresh Air book critic Maureen Corrigan lists her favorite books of 2005, including novels by Mary Gaitskill and Kazuo Ishiguro, and memoirs by Joan Didion and J.R. Moehringer.

Review
05:19

Mystery Novelist Joseph Hansen

Also we remember mystery novelist Joseph Hansen, who we just learned died last month at the age of 81. He created one of the genre's first gay protagonists, the private eye Dave Brandstetter.

Obituary
06:02

Book Critic Maureen Corrigan: Queens of Pulp

Corrigan reviews several reprints of books by female detective fiction writers, including Anna Katherine Green's That Affair Next Door: And, Lost Man's Lane, Metta Fuller Victor's The Dead Letter & The Figure Eight, (both from Duke University Press) and re-issues from The Feminist Press, Skyscraper by Faith Baldwin, In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes and The Girls in 3-B by Valerie Taylor.

Review
21:40

Writer Max Allan Collins

Writer Max Allan Collins. His graphic novel Road to Perdition is the basis for the film. Mickey Spillane said of the novel, "I know mysteries, and I know comics and Road to Perdition is one great ride!" Collins twice won the Private Eye Writers of Americas Shamus award for his Nathaniel Heller historical thrillers, True Detective and Stolen Away. His comics credits include Dick Tracy, Batman, Ms Tree and Mike Danger.

Interview
06:32

Book Critic Maureen Corrigan

Book critic Maureen Corrigan tells us about some of the mysteries she and her friends are reading to help cope with the times. They include Hope to Die the new Laurence Block mystery featuring hard-boiled detective Matt Scudder; Journey into Fear (1940) a classic by Eric Ambler; Rouge Male (1950) by Geoffrey Household; The Ministry of Fear (1943) by Graham Greene; The Maltese Falcon (1930) by Dashiell Hammett.

Review
18:44

Remembering George V. Higgins.

We remember crime novelist George V. Higgins. He was found dead at his home on Saturday, apparently of natural causes. He was 59. He was best known for his best seller, "Friends of Eddie Coyle," published in 1972. (REBROADCAST from 9/30/1986)

05:22

A Wild Ride Through Brooklyn.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Motherless Brooklyn" (Doubleday) by Jonathan Lethem, a mystery novel set in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Review
21:26

Journalist Dan Fesperman Turns to Fiction.

Dan Fesperman is the former Berlin Bureau correspondent for the Baltimore Sun 1993-1996. From there he extensively covered Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. He has drawn for his experience there for the setting of his new crime novel "Lie in the Dark." (Soho) It is about a Sarajevo homicide detective who must do his job while corpses pile up from the on-going civil war.

Interview
08:09

Mystery Writer Charlotte Carter.

Mystery writer Charlotte Carter. She made her debut last year with "Rhode Island Red" featuring heroine Nanette Hayes, a jazz saxophonist. Carter's second novel featuring Hayes is "Coq Au Vin" (Mysterious Press/Warner)

Interview
09:49

Writer Evan Hunter Discusses How His Writing Has Changed Over the Years.

Writer Evan Hunter. Under his own name he is the author of "The Blackboard Jungle," and "Privileged Conversation." He also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's film "The Birds" (based on the Daphne Du Maurier short story). (WE WILL TALK WITH HIM AT ANOTHER TIME ABOUT HIS WORK WITH HITCHCOCK) Under the pseudonym Ed McBain, he is the author of a series of mystery novels for which he won the British Crime Writers Association's highest award, the Diamond Dagger, and the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award.

Interview
21:20

Writer and Child Psychologist Jonathan Kellerman.

Jonathan Kellerman is a child psychologist and best-selling writer. He's best known his character psychologist Alex Delaware. In his latest novel, his 14th book, Delaware is on hiatus. In "Billy Straight" published by Random House, his star is Billy, a 12 year old runaway, who witnesses a murder. Kellerman is a clinical professor of pediatrics and psychology at University of Southern California School of Medicine. His wife Faye Kellerman is also an accomplished mystery writer.

Interview
17:07

Writer Richard Lipez, a.k.a. Richard Stevenson.

Maureen Corrigan interviews writer Richard Stevenson. That's a pseudonym for Richard Lipez ("LIP-ehz"). He works in the genre of gay detective mysteries. Since 1981, he's written a series of six books about detective Donald Strachey ("STRAY-chee"). He is also a Washington Post columnist under his real name. Stevenson's latest book is called "Strachey's Folly: A Donald Strachey Mystery." (St. Martin's Press)

Interview
45:13

Legendary Mystery Novelist P. D. James.

Fresh Air's book critic Maureen Corrigan interviews British mystery novelist P. D. James. James has just published her fifteenth book, "A Certain Justice," which is already on the New York Times Best Sellers List. James talks to Corrigan about the nature of the mystery novel and the differences between British and American mystery novels.

Interview

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