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272 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies development of Latin American hard-boiled fiction. First of all Giardinelli addresses the issue of whether or not a Latin American hardboiled genre actually exists. He goes on to validate this question and give a general overview of the nature of the genre. Next he discusses the origins of hard-boiled fiction and how it surfaces in Latin America. Here Giardinelli presents the points of view of several critics that look at the social conditions that favor the cultivation of this genre. He cites the theorist, Román Gubern, who believes the hard-boiled genre developed out of the contemporary "philosophy of insecurity" that stems from the rise of capiralism and the formation of large urban centers, the creation of secret police and the birrh of the sensationalist press (xvi). Giardinelli goes on to show how classical detective fiction at the turn of the millennium in Latin America gave way to the hard-boiled style because it is a genre more geared to the reality of modern Latin America as it engages social issues, problematizes the role of the justice system and questions authority. In the next section Giardinelli discusses the literary antecedents of the hard-boiled genre placing it in the line of the action and adventure literature of the nineteenth century, most particularly in rhat of the North American Western novel. Without these previous circumstances , Giardinelli states, hard-boiled fiction could not exist. Writers such as Bret Harte, Steven Crane, Ambrose Bierce, Zane Grey and William S. Porter all helped shape hard-boiled detective fiction through their use of constant action, the creation of characters with brutal behavior, crude dialogue, suspense and an individualistic spirit (xxi). Additionally, the author suggests that die Western presented certain questionable values that were attractive to hardboiled writers such as "power, corruption and social criticism" as well as "excessive ambition for money, [...] personal glory [and] a penchant for aspiring to political power" not to mention the primordial element: crime (xxii). Lasdy, Giardinelli looks at the influence North American hard-boiled fiction has exercised on the Latin American version of the genre. He notes that despite other influences, such as the French hard-boiled novel, there is an element of "North Americanness" evident in many of the texts written by Latin Americans (xxvii). He points out that North-American hardboiled novels have had such an overwhelming impact on Latin American authors that its influence transcends the mystery genre. Giardinelli states that in some way the majoriry of Latin American writers, from the Boom forward , have been impacted by these stories and in their writing have adapted its style, narrative strategies and critical view of society. He affirms that the North American influence is, however, more notable in the use of narrative techniques rather than in the motives of the characters, which are different in Latin America. Corruption, for example, is present in both literatures as a morally and politically destructive element. Yet in the case of Norrh American, there is almost always a way of overcoming it whereas is Latin America corruption is an "incurable disease" (xxx). Common trends almosr exclusive to Latin American Hard-boiled fiction are themes of mestizaje, corrupt political systems, and violence related to dictatorial aurhority or a political system that falsely presents itself as democratic. Latin American Mystery Writers: An A to Z Guide is a wonderful and timely addition to a corpus of scholarship that studies detective fiction in Latin America and, in a broader sense, popular genre literature as a whole in Latin America. As an avid scholar of Latin American detective fiction, this is a book that I will consult often. Shalisa M. Collins The University of Arizona Las Remoras Seix Barrai, 2002 Por Eloy Urroz Esta es una narración que rranscurre en diferentes lugares al mismo tiempo. Por un lado Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 273 está Ricardo, el narrador en la Ciudad de México escribiendo sobre Las Rémoras, un lugar ficticio en Baja California, y por otro lado está Elias, el escribidor, en Las Rémoras escribiendo sobre Ricardo. Finalmente Ricardo y Elias se encuentran en Las Rémoras y descubren que ambos...

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