Modus Operandi by Robin W. Winks. Boston. 1982. David Godine. 0879234067. 131 pages. hardcover.

DESCRIPTION - MODUS OPERANDI is an answer to the common canard that while detective fiction is accepted as entertainment it cannot be taken with true seriousness. Winks knows, however, that to be serious is not to be solemn. Thus MODUS OPERANDI has the wit and elegance only true assurance permits. Its method is to meander through the sorts and conditions of the genre-through Ambler, Buchan, Chandler, Chesterton, Christie, Cross, Doyle, Freeling, Greene, and Hammett; through P. D; James, Kipling, Le Carre, Poe, Sayers, Simenon, Sj6wall & Wahloo, and others of their colleagues, European and American-taking from each a characteristic, a touch of place, of approach, of predilection, all in the service of producing not an encyclopedia or even a history but rather a deeply personal essay in defense of detective fiction as an accompaniment to the civilized life.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY - Robin W. Winks (December 5, 1930 in Indiana - April 7, 2003 in New Haven, Connecticut) was an American academic, historian, diplomat, and writer on the subject of fiction, especially detective novels. After joining the faculty of Yale University in 1957, he rose in 1996-1999 to become the Randolph Townsend Professor of History and Master of Berkeley College. At Oxford University he served as George Eastman Professor in 1992-3, and as Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History in 1999-2000.

See if zenosbooks.com has any books for sale by this author