Abstract
Chapter 2 focuses on Dashiell Hammett and the rise of the hardboiled novel, and its subsequent transformation into legal fiction in the hands of John Grisham. Hammett’s ur-hardboiled Red Harvest and Grisham’s legal blockbuster The Rainmaker embody their respective eras, zeitgeists, and schools of writing, exemplifying the apparent differences and the underlying similarities between them.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Engel, 102; thoroughly revised, parts of this research are based on Swirski and Wong (2005).
- 2.
See Engel, 104.
- 3.
Figures from CNN; Grisham official website; BBC News “Grisham”.
- 4.
Porter, 121.
- 5.
See Geherin, 26.
- 6.
Blaha, 801.
- 7.
For background, see Regier; for the pulps, as opposed to the slicks, see Paula Rabinowitz.
- 8.
For background, see Johnson.
- 9.
In Geherin, 18.
- 10.
20 March 1928; in Hammett (2001), 45.
- 11.
See Restaino; Mooney.
- 12.
Panek, Probable Cause, 114.
- 13.
Page 199; next quote, 174.
- 14.
See Swirski, Ars Americana, (2011), and (2015).
- 15.
For background, see Swirski (2007).
- 16.
For Chandler’s fascinating piece on Luciano, see Hiney, 250–255.
- 17.
Panek, 96; below, Abadinsky, 83.
- 18.
Panek, 100; below, Abadinsky, 109.
- 19.
Hefferman, 190.
- 20.
See Swirski, Ars Americana, (2011), and (2015).
- 21.
On integrated versus apocalyptic scholarship, see Eco; on lowbrow versus highbrow, see Swirski (2005); Swirski (2016); Swirski and Vanhanen (2016).
- 22.
See Banzhaf.
- 23.
McCaghy, 295.
- 24.
Strobel, 21–22.
- 25.
Strobel, 272.
- 26.
Jones (1999), 65; People, 46.
- 27.
In Rayner.
- 28.
Pringle, 23.
- 29.
For Grisham’s rare comment on the book, see Margaret.
- 30.
Nelson; below, BBC News (2014).
- 31.
Grisham (567); Hammett (184).
- 32.
BBC News (2014); quote below, in Middleton.
- 33.
Enron’s illegal activities are extensively chronicled in Wuensche.
- 34.
Quoted from Enron’s official website: http://www.enron.com (2003). Shortly thereafter, Enron has deleted this phrase, then the entire website.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Swirski, P. (2016). Briefcases for Hire: Dashiell Hammett and John Grisham. In: American Crime Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30108-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30108-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30107-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30108-2
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)