Nom légal: Hughes, Dorothy Belle
Autres noms: Flanagan, Dorothy Belle (birth name)
Hughes, Dorothy B.
Date de naissance: 1904-08-10
Date de décès: 1993-05-06
Sexe: female
Nationalité: USA
Lieu de naissance: Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Lieu du décès: Ashland, Oregon, USA
Lieux de résidence: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Études: University of Missouri (journalism)
University of New Mexico
Columbia University
Professions: journalist
crime novelist
literary critic
poet
Relations: Hughes, Jr., Levi Allan (husband)
Prix et distinctions: MWA Grand Master (1978)
Edgar Award (Outstanding Mystery Criticism, 1951)
Courte biographie: Dorothy B. Hughes was one of the most popular and successful mystery and detective writers from the 1940s through the 1950s. She had a great influence on the next generation of authors, especially women. She started her literary life as a poet, which helps explain the lyrical quality of her writing. Her work had more in common with British writers of the period such as Graham Greene and Eric Ambler than with Americans such as James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler. In Hughes’s novels, the male, hardboiled swagger is replaced by a more nuanced unease, even a sense of terror, with unseen forces, doomed heroes, and existentialism questioning of a world sinking into the barbarism of World War II. She was a master of atmosphere who vividly captured the moods and the dark side of the period. Her best known novel, In a Lonely Place (1947), was adapted into a now-classic 1950 film directed by Nicholas Ray.

Membres

Discussions

142. In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes à Backlisted Book Club (Mars 2022)

Critiques

The Blackbirder par Dorothy B. Hughes

It took a little bit for me to get into this story, but it eventually really took off. The last quarter especially went like gangbusters. I liked the way the story ended, tying up enough loose threads to give a sense of closure but leaving it open enough that the characters feel like they’re living on past the end of the book.

Signalé

rabbitprincess | 8 autres critiques | Nov 24, 2023 |

Ride the Pink Horse (An American Mystery Classic) par Dorothy B. Hughes

[Ride the Pink Horse] by Dorothy B. Hughes. This novel was published in 1946, apparently went out-of-print. In 2021 it was republished by Otto Penzler, as an entry in his "American Mystery Classics."

The story's about a Chicago gunsel who goes by the name Sailor. He had done a job for a fellow nicknamed Sen because he had been a U.S. Senator, a corrupt one. Sen welshed on Sailor. The gunsel pursues Sen to a New Mexico town a lot like Santa Fe, where he plans to confront Sen, confident he'll get paid (even though Sailor has jacked up the price). Complicating the action are two matters. It's the town's annual Fiesta that fills every hotel and restaurant, with crowds jamming the street. Sailor can't get close to Sen, much less confront him. Moreover, a Chicago policeman called Mac (for MacIntyre) shows up, himself tailing Sen and, knowingly, trying to thwart Sailor.

In a striking departure from publishing practices in 1946, Hughes records all of Sailor's racism in a town teeming with Native Americans and hispanics. Sailor's never been outside of Chicago with its mature municipal infrastructure. So he's repelled by the unpaved streets and the lack of personal hygiene (due to the lack of a viable public water system).

I recognize Hughes' sharp eye, her character development. But reading her book was slow going. I didn't see any likable main character, anyone to root for. (Of course, it's the kind of story that shouldn't have likable characters.) Even Mac the cop got on my nerves with what Sailor called his preachy-ness. I'd rate Ride the Pink Horse "good".… (plus d'informations)

Signalé

weird_O | 10 autres critiques | Oct 6, 2023 |

The Expendable Man par Dorothy B. Hughes

I’m not sure how Hughes does it. You’re inside someone else’s head and all the tension builds like a personalized anxiety.

Signalé

Deni_Weeks | 25 autres critiques | Sep 16, 2023 |

In a lonely place par Dorothy B. Hughes

I had heard Dorothy Hughes's name but not read any of her work. She is brilliant. This book is fantastic, the creation of the narrator's character grows and becomes ominous, then tougher than ominous. The other major characters are very well-formed and alive. This book is extraordinary. It is also different from the movie of the same name which was adapted from this book. I like both very much.

Signalé

RickGeissal | 32 autres critiques | Aug 16, 2023 |

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