Western and Hard-boiled Detective Fiction in America

An analysis of the generic tradition of American adventure novels covers the half century from the closing of the frontier around 1890 to the eve of US involvement in World War II. Refuting the idea that formula fiction is by nature static, Hamilton shows the complexity of its dynamic nature by concentrating on four highly popular writers--Zane Grey, Frederick Faust, Dashiell Hammett, and Raymond Chandler--interpreting aspects of their lives and the central themes and characteristics of their fiction.