Gifford, Barry

New York. 1988. April 1988. Grove Press. 1st Edition. Very Good in Wrappers. 080213078x. Introduction by Dow Mossman and Ed Gorman. 163 pages. paperback. Cover illustration by Kirwan. Cover design by Irving Freeman. keywords: Film Noir America. FROM THE PUBLISHER - This is the perfect companion for a tour of the moody, ominous, violent underbelly of American moviemaking. Poet and novelist Barry Gifford writes with a connoisseur s insight and an offbeat sensitivity perfectly tailored to his subjects and the America they illuminate - from James Cagney's fiery Oedipal apotheosis at the climax of the gangster pic White Heat to James Dean's embodiment of teenage anomie in Rebel Without a Cause to Walter Matthau's low-rent authority as a small-timer in Charley Varrick. Among the hundred films discussed here are such seldom-seen triumphs of eccentric menace as The Devil Thumbs a Ride, such eerie portraits of American paranoia as the Cold War-era Shack Out On 101, and such bizarrely violent episodes as Gun Crazy. As Dow Mossman and Ed Gorman note in their introduction, these films plot ‘the cinematic fever chart of the American dream.' Among Barry Gifford's books are the novels PORT TROPIQUE and LANDSCAPE WITH TRAVELLER, and the oral biography of Jack Kerouac, JACK'S BOOK (with Lawrence Lee). His column, ‘Unforgettable Films: ' is a regular feature of Mystery Scene magazine. . inventory #34241 ISBN: 080213078x.