LemonSky reviewed A catalogue of crime by Jacques Barzun
Review of 'A catalogue of crime' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
An important thing to note is that this is a catalog of books with very short reviews (some only one sentence). The authors are rather opinionated, so be warned! They either love an author or have them. There does not seem to be any middle ground. Also, they have a taste for obscure authors I've never even heard of. For example, [a:Glyn Carr|58530|Glyn Carr|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1352493988p2/58530.jpg] (pseudonym of Frank Showell Styles), gets 12 entries, all positive, under his name. However, [a:Eric Ambler|26006|Eric Ambler|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1236732156p2/26006.jpg], (author of [b:The Mask of Dimitrios|6329320|The Mask of Dimitrios|Eric Ambler|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328045319s/6329320.jpg|45552], [b:Journey Into Fear|46430|Journey Into Fear|Eric Ambler|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386923210s/46430.jpg|45553], etc.), gets two dismissive reviews and a short list of books. This happens quite a bit throughout the book, though they like [a:Rex Stout|41112|Rex Stout|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201136975p2/41112.jpg] and [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg].
This is a good book to thumb through if you're looking for Golden Age authors, or trying to get some information on the author …
An important thing to note is that this is a catalog of books with very short reviews (some only one sentence). The authors are rather opinionated, so be warned! They either love an author or have them. There does not seem to be any middle ground. Also, they have a taste for obscure authors I've never even heard of. For example, [a:Glyn Carr|58530|Glyn Carr|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1352493988p2/58530.jpg] (pseudonym of Frank Showell Styles), gets 12 entries, all positive, under his name. However, [a:Eric Ambler|26006|Eric Ambler|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1236732156p2/26006.jpg], (author of [b:The Mask of Dimitrios|6329320|The Mask of Dimitrios|Eric Ambler|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328045319s/6329320.jpg|45552], [b:Journey Into Fear|46430|Journey Into Fear|Eric Ambler|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386923210s/46430.jpg|45553], etc.), gets two dismissive reviews and a short list of books. This happens quite a bit throughout the book, though they like [a:Rex Stout|41112|Rex Stout|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201136975p2/41112.jpg] and [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg].
This is a good book to thumb through if you're looking for Golden Age authors, or trying to get some information on the author of some books you just bought online.
This book was revised in 1989, but I have not seen that edition. It is over 100 pages longer than the first edition, which I own.