ADVENTURE, MYSTERY, AND ROMANCE: FORMULA STORIES AS ART AND POPULAR CULTURE. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, [1976]. Octavo, pp. [i-iv] v-viii 1-336, cloth. First edition. A study of popular story formulas, a significant attempt to establish an aesthetic for popular narrative. "I consider these popular formulas to be of more complex artistic and cultural interest than most previous commentators have indicated. To substantiate this general thesis, I have chosen to deal rather intensively with a few major formulas -- various forms of detective and crime stories, the western, and the best-selling social melodrama." - Cawelti, p. 2. "... astute and readable study ..." - Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 9-20. A fine copy without dust jacket as issued. (#139279).
Price: $75.00
First printing has code "80 79 78 77 76 987654321" on copyright page.