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| Hardboiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories | 
 enlarge | Creators: Bill Pronzini, Jack Adrian
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy Used: $10.22
You Save: $19.73 (66%)
New (11) Used (22) from $10.22
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 706709
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 019510353X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.087208
EAN: 9780195103533
ASIN: 019510353X
Publication Date: May 29, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Ink marks on bottom of book. Corners are bumped. Sound Copy. Mild Reading Wear.
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Product Description
Compellingly and compulsively readable, Hardboiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories is a page-turner no mystery lover will want to be without. Included are thirty-six superbly suspenseful stories that chronicle the evolution of this quintessentially American art form, from its earliest beginnings during the Golden Age of the legendary pulp magazine Black Mask in the 1920s, to the arrival of the tough digest Manhunt in the 1950s, and finally leading up to present-day hard-boiled stories by such writers as James Ellroy. Here are eight decades worth of the best writing about betrayal, murder, and mayhem: from Hammett's 1925 tour de force "The Scorched Face" to Ed Gorman's 1992 "The Long Silence After." Other contributors include Evan Hunter (better known as Ed McBain), Paul Cain, Norbert Davis, Jim Thompson, Helen Nielsen, Margaret Maron, Andrew Vachss, Faye Kellerman, and Lawrence Block. Containing many notable rarities, Hardboiled celebrates a genre that has profoundly shaped not only American literature and film, but how we see our heroes and ourselves.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Not Free SF Reader September 12, 2008
A really excellent anthology. An informative introduction of around fifteen pages to set it up for you, and there are also good introductory passages to each story that tell you something about each author, and set the scene for the work.
Reading this has been a very pleasing and enlightening experience as far as the title goes.
Interestingly, the only lame story, that could perhaps have stayed in literary journal land as it is rather dull was followed by two ripper five star wild stories in a row. For SF fans, you will find a Leigh Brackett story here.
The stories proceed in chronological order, decade by decade, from Hammett to Gorman.
Really well done, and to the publishers too, for putting this out. Another good Oxford University Press lengthy retrospective.
At a 3.71 average, and the extra material I'd call this a 4.75 plus.
Hard-Boiled : The Scorched Face - Dashiell Hammett
Hard-Boiled : Round Trip - W. R. Burnett
Hard-Boiled : Mistral - Raoul Whitfield
Hard-Boiled : Backwash - Frederick Nebel
Hard-Boiled : Trouble-Chaser - Paul Cain
Hard-Boiled : Fruit Tramp - Daniel Mainwaring
Hard-Boiled : Brush Fire - James M. Cain
Hard-Boiled : Human Interest Stuff - Brett Halliday
Hard-Boiled : Waiting for Rusty - William Cole
Hard-Boiled : I'll Be Waiting - Raymond Chandler
Hard-Boiled : Marijuana and a Pistol - Chester Himes
Hard-Boiled : Who Said I Was Dead? - Norbert Davis
Hard-Boiled : Nor Iron Bars - John D. MacDonald
Hard-Boiled : Dock Walloper - Benjamin Appel
Hard-Boiled : Three-Ten to Yuma - Elmore Leonard
Hard-Boiled : The Bobby-Soxer - Jonathan Craig
Hard-Boiled : Black Pudding - David Goodis
Hard-Boiled : Guilt-Edged Blonde - Ross Macdonald
Hard-Boiled : Mama's Boy - David Alexander
Hard-Boiled : The Screen Test of Mike Hammer - Mickey Spillane
Hard-Boiled : Home - Gil Brewer
Hard-Boiled : So Pale So Cold So Fair - Leigh Brackett
Hard-Boiled : A Piece of Ground - Helen Nielsen
Hard-Boiled : The Merry, Merry Christmas - Evan Hunter
Hard-Boiled : Forever After - Jim Thompson
Hard-Boiled : The Old Pro - H. A. DeRosso
Hard-Boiled : The Saturday Night Deaths - Michael Kerr
Hard-Boiled : Graveyard Shift - James M. Reasoner
Hard-Boiled : Deadhead Coming Down - Margaret Maron
Hard-Boiled : To Florida - Robert Sampson
Hard-Boiled : It's a Hard World - Andrew Vachss
Hard-Boiled : Junior Jacksons Parable - James Hannah
Hard-Boiled : Bonding - Faye Kellerman
Hard-Boiled : Gravy Train - James Ellroy
Hard-Boiled : Batman's Helpers - Lawrence Block
Hard-Boiled : The Long Silence After - Ed Gorman
Orgy killzone negative Con Op coverup bull.
4 out of 5
Those Toledo flatfeet are too bent for us Chicago gangsters, boss.
3.5 out of 5
Bad wind and bullets in on the lam bar showdown.
3.5 out of 5
I'm just a governer-elect robbing gigolo.
4 out of 5
No talent for blackmail, either.
3.5 out of 5
He ain't no peach with a hole in him.
3 out of 5
Save him, kill him, very annoying.
3.5 out of 5
Ranger justice engineering.
4 out of 5
Miss twice and hope to die.
3.5 out of 5
"I could maybe give nine guesses. And twelve of them would be right."
3.5 out of 5
This is a stickup, dope.
3.5 out of 5
Not everybody, apparently.
3 out of 5
You can have him, boys. However, he does have a submachine gun. Go for your lives.
4 out of 5
No trouble, please.
3.5 out of 5
Working hard for the money. Bullets flying honey.
4 out of 5
Just a pro, unless you act funny.
3.5 out of 5
If you left me alone when I got out of the slammer, I wouldn't have had to make you kill each other.
4 out of 5
Mom, I'm running out of family, here. Tell her Mr. Archer.
4 out of 5
She went down like a two dollar really smart witness.
3.5 out of 5
Back up, make sure you got him.
3.5 out of 5
A local crimelord has a problem when the body of a reporter enemy's old lover is dumped on the newsman's doorstep.
4 out of 5
Too good to be true is a real killer, farmboy.
4.5 out of 5
Happy person lights out.
4 out of 5
Husbands, a pain in the neck.
3 out of 5
Need a non-soft killer again.
4 out of 5
Finishing off the bad loose ends, captain.
4 out of 5
Seven-eleven cleanup experience.
4 out of 5
Trucking along racking up the X's.
3.5 out of 5
Holiday cracker clearout.
3 out of 5
I think I'll let you have my spot in it.
3.5 out of 5
Organ Walls.
2.5 out of 5
Professionally not bored.
5 out of 5
Love me, love my bull terrier.
5 out of 5
The Copyright Protection Case.
3.5 out of 5
Disease shooter decision.
4 out of 5
 great commentary, mediocre stories... September 29, 2004
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
'Hard-Boiled', an anthology of twentieth-century "hard-boiled" short stories compiled by Pronzini and Adrian, should have been great. Unfortunately out of the thousands of stories to choose from they picked the dregs from some of the best writers (Ellroy, Goodis, Thompson, ..), and the best from a great many (deservedly) unknown writers. It took me a long time to slog through the dozens of stories contained in this volume.
However the only positve aspect of the book are the commentaries before each story, giving a bit of background on each author and their placement in the history of 'hard-boiled' short fiction. Clearly Pronzini/Adrian have done their homework in this regard. But this only made me more frustrated with the all the mediocre stories they amassed.
Bottom line: a missed opportunity. Very disappointing.
Another Good Anthology from Oxford University Press May 6, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Hard-Boiled American crime fiction is Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, Mickey Spillane, and many less familiar authors. The hard-boiled American crime fiction never really took root in Great Britain. Sam Spade was popular on the screen, but less so in the London bookstore. I was surprised to discover that the prestigious Oxford University Press had published this anthology of American crime fiction.What is hard-boiled crime fiction? According to the editors Bill Pronzini and Jack Adrian, hard-boiled crime stories deal with disorder, disaffection, and dissatisfaction. The reader encounters a jaundiced view of government, power, and the law. The protagonist, sometimes a woman, is a social misfit, a loner. Most stories are reflective of their times, windows into history that offer the perspective of individuals that inhabited a particular, often unsavory locale. Some of the stories in this remarkable collection appear in other anthologies, but others are rarely encountered. Pronzini and Adrian have arranged these short stories chronologically, beginning with Hammett's The Scorched Face (1926). Each story is introduced by a thoughtful preface. I gradually developed an understanding and appreciation for this uniquely American genre. Many of these entries qualify as pulp fiction; most are without any literary pedigree. And yet, this collection makes good reading. Entertainment, suspense, riveting characters, and a little cultural history are blended together. I highly recommend this anthology.
Top Notch Hard-Boiled Anthology January 11, 2002
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
"Hard Boiled" is an absolutely first rate collection of short stories by some of the best AND least known writers of the genre. One of its two editors, Bill Pronzini, is an avid collector of the old Pulp magazines as well as being one of the best hard-boiled writers working today (he's the author of the excellent "Nameless" detective series). He and co-editor Jack Adrian really know their stuff, as they show with an extensive introduction that explains in detail the history of the genre. They also provide good introductions for each individual writer, both the famous and the not-so famous, to give the reader a good perspective of where each author was coming from.The stories themselves are grouped by the decade in which they were published. The 1930s and 1950s are the most heavily represented because, the editors explain, they were the peak decades for hard-boiled fiction in terms of both poularity and quality. The book covers the 1920s to the 1990s. Overall, this is an excellent book for anyone who enjoys good crime stories.
A great anthology February 15, 2001
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Hard Boiled is the greatest crime anthology that I have read. It's full to the brim with great stories and has writers from every decade some well kown some not. Some great stories are Dashiell Hammet's The Scorched Face, Roul Whitfield's Misteral, James M Cain's Brush Fire, Chester Himes Marijuana and a Pistol and Jim Thompson's Forever After. It also has a great introduction. I seriously suggest you buy this book
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