Noir Dreams: The Fiction of Cornell Woolrich - Page 2

A strange, haunted, reclusive man who lived almost his entire adult life with his mother in a New York City hotel, Cornell Woolrich started his career writing Jazz Age novels like an F. Scott Fitzgerald wannabe. Then, in the late 1930s his stories began appearing in the pulps. Later, in the 1940s, writing as William Irish and George Hopely as well as under his own name, he produced a series of suspense novels and in the process pretty much created, along with Chandler and Hammett, what is now called Noir. He wrote hundreds of short stories, many of which were adapted for radio and television and appeared on programs like "Suspense", "Thriller", and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Most of his novels were filmed, as was his short story "Rear Window", which was the basis of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece. Here, our maverick English Teacher looks at his literary output of both Novels and story collections. He also includes 3 major critical studies.