Новинки Морин Корриган

The "Fresh Air" book critic investigates the enduring power of The Great Gatsby -- "The Great American Novel we all think we've read, but really haven't."

Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know The Great Gatsby? As Maureen Corrigan, Gatsby lover extraordinaire, points out, while Fitzgerald's masterpiece may be one of the most popular novels in America, many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power.

Offering a fresh perspective on what makes Gatsby great -- and utterly unusual -- So We Read On takes us into archives, high school classrooms, and even out onto the Long Island Sound to explore the novel's hidden depths, a journey whose revelations include Gatsby 's surprising debt to hard-boiled crime fiction, its rocky path to recognition as a "classic," and its profound commentaries on the national themes of race, class, and gender.

With rigor, wit, and infectious enthusiasm, Corrigan inspires us to re-experience the greatness of Gatsby and cuts to the heart of why we are, as a culture, "borne back ceaselessly" into its thrall. Along the way, she spins a new and fascinating story of her own.

“It’s not that I don’t like people,” writes Maureen Corrigan in her introduction to Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading. “It’s just that there always comes a moment when I’m in the company of others—even my nearest and dearest—when I’d rather be reading a book.” In this delightful memoir, Corrigan reveals which books and authors have shaped her own life—from classic works of English literature to hard-boiled detective novels, and everything in between. And in her explorations of the heroes and heroines throughout literary history, Corrigan’s love for a good story shines.

This latest entry in the "Scribner Writers" series will fill a gap in reference collections, appealing to patrons researching popular mystery writers of the mid-19th through the 20th centuries and to librarians offering readers' advisory assistance. Articles on 68 mystery writers ranging from Edgar Allen Poe to Sarah Paretsky run from ten to 20 pages and include information on the life and works as well as solid bibliographies for each author. With the exception of the best-known Europeans (Sjowall, Wahloo, Simeon), most authors profiled here are English or American. In addition to individual biographies and criticism, the second of these two volumes also includes articles on various subgenresAblack detective fiction, gay and lesbian mystery fiction, the romantic suspense mystery, and the spy thriller, for exampleAwritten by such authorities as H.R.F. Keating and B.J. Rahn and practitioners such as Jon L. Breen, Jennifer Crusie Smith, and Stephen F. Soitos. Also included are pseudonyms and series characters, some mystery and suspense subgenres, and major prize winners. An excellent index guides the reader to information on particular authors in each of the genre articles. Not as inclusive as Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers (St. James, 1991), but more comprehensive, this is an excellent choice for any library