UC Berkeley press release

NEWS RELEASE, 9/29/97


Next Week at UC Berkeley-Sept. 29 through Oct. 5

Events of interest to the press and public

by Lyn Hunter

Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 3-4

French Appreciation for American Pulp Fiction Subject of Three-Day Conference

Like the French affinity for the artistic merits of Jerry Lewis, so is their love of the American crime novel. In fact, many of France's first post-war practitioners of crime writing wrote under American pseudonyms. This love affair is the subject of a three-day event that brings together the two countries' most prominent "Masters of Noir," authors James Crumley and Patrick Raynal.

Raynal and Crumly have been hailed on either side of the Atlantic as the true successors to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Their fictional heroes, like Sam Spade or Philip Marlow, are still hard-drinking, masculine protagonists, but they now embody modern vulnerabilities-they cry, make awkward attempts at paternity and try to make their romantic relationships work. Instead of the corruption and class-warfare of the Prohibition era, these detectives solve crimes in a modern world of drugs, closed-gate communities and immigrant-bashing.

Lecture and film presentations will be given by Crumley on Thursday, Oct. 2 and Raynal on Friday, Oct. 3. Both events begin at 5 p.m. A creative crime writing workshop will be given by both writers on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. All events take place in rooms 2040 and 2060 of the Valley Life Sciences Building. (Media Contact: Nicholas Paige (510) 642-8501 or 642-2712)

A complete listing of campus events is available at: http://www.berkeley.edu/calendar


This server has been established by the University of California at Berkeley Public Information Office. Copyright for all items on this server held by The Regents of the University of California. Thanks for your interest in UC Berkeley.
More Press Releases | More Campus News and Events | UC Berkeley Home Page

 

Send comments to: comments@pa.urel.berkeley.edu