Collectively, Marcia Muller, Sue Grafton, and Sara Paretsky have created indelible worlds of detective fiction dominated by tough and wily female private eyes. In the late 1970s, Marcia Muller introduced ace legal investigator, Sharon McCone, and in 1982 both Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky followed suit with still grittier heroines, the now-famous Kinsey Millhone, a hard-boiled cop-turned-detective, and V. I. Warshawski, a street-smart private investigator. For their legions of fans, this keenly crafted triple portrait is a treat, probing the fertile mind of each author as she conducts her research and discusses her craft. Narrated by JoBeth Williams, filmmakers Pamela Beere Briggs and William McDonald's Women of Mystery features the writers providing short readings from their works (accompanied by dramatizations that capture familiar characters and themes from the novels), casual footage of the authors roaming through their heroines' home turf--from San Francisco to Chicago--while providing intriguing insights, and, finally, engaging interviews that reveal the complex relationship each woman has developed with her heroine. Budding writers and ardent mystery fans will enjoy intelligent conversation, from candid discussions of childhood events that influenced later works, to surprising views on the nature of crime and justice. A well-paced, revealing study, this is highly recommended for women's studies and literature collections. Aud: H, C, P. (A. Cantu)
While Norman Mailer's The Prisoner of Sex might be highly recommended for women's studies for use as an ersatz dartboard, few can argue with his impressive achievements as a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and journalist. In this filmed semi-biography, it is a mellow (though still crafty) 70-year-old author who, in a backhanded compliment to the triumph of the image over the word, admits that when it comes to the reality of diminishing audiences "if you've ideas, it's probably better to express them on TV than not at all." Not exactly the self-serving revisionist history that you might expect from a septuagenarian literary lion reflecting on his life's work, Mailer on Mailer, an entry in the PBS-aired American Masters series, intertwines readings from The Naked and the Dead, The Deer Park, Armies of the Night and The Executioner's Song, with commentary from Mailer on various facets of American history and culture. Not surprisingly, the film is at its best when Mailer is expounding (with no small amount of insight and wisdom) on his favorite topic: the American character, which he perceptively defines as springing from the two conflicting principles of Puritan moral asceticism and the capitalist aim of acquiring wealth. In addition to his work and commentary, Mailer wisely addresses the two significant personal brouhahas for which he is most famous (stabbing a wife, and his instrumental assistance in the release of writer/prisoner Jack Henry Abbott, who murdered a man weeks after being paroled). "My country has not become as noble as I hoped it would have become," Mailer concludes with genuine tears in his eyes, perhaps haunted by his own demons as well. A vigorous conversation with a great American writer, Mailer on Mailer is recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)