Violent Conscience

Leonard Engel, a professor of English at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, is the editor of several essay collections and the author of numerous articles.

“a fine collection of essays...a fascinating interview with Burke”—Western American Literature; “Burke still doesn’t get as much mainstream attention as he deserves. Engel’s collection goes a long way toward removing this vacuum and brings careful analysis and thoughtful insight into the work of a writer respected and admired by many”—Southwestern American Literature.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments      IntroductionLEONARD ENGEL      1. The Struggles of Southern Identity in White Doves at MorningBRAD KLYPCHAK      2. “I Took No Joy in It”: Southern Violence and Folk Justice in the Robicheaux NovelsPATRICIA GAITELY      3. Soldiering On: Dave Robicheaux and VietnamDONALD ANDERSON      4. “Jesus Out to Sea”: Burke’s Homage to Those Left Behind in the War ZoneBARBARA ZIMMERMAN BOGUE      5. Ghosts, Demons, or the DTs? The Supernatural in the Robicheaux SeriesLINDA J. HOLLAND-TOLL      6. Believe Not Every Spirit: Strange Shadows in the NovelsBRETT WESTBROOK      7. Water, Water Everywhere: Elemental Poetics and Politics in The Tin Roof BlowdownJOSIANE PELTIER      8. The Entangled Web: Heaven’s Prisoners in Manichean PrisonsSAM COALE      9. The Past Is the Past: Refusing to Age Gracefully in the Robicheaux SeriesTHOMAS EASTERLING      10. The Evil That Men Do: Options for MasculinityBRETT WESTBROOK      11. Cimarron Rose: Guns and Roses in the WestJOHN M. GOURLIE      12. Robicheaux’s Sublime Torment on Film: Phil Joanou’s Heaven’s Prisoners (1996) and Bertrand Tavernier’s In the Electric Mist (2009)DENNIS ROTHERMEL      Interview with James Lee BurkeLEONARD ENGEL      About the Contributors      Index      .