David H. Walker Professor of French,University of Sheffield

'Worth the read for the purely historical information about criminals who were famous in the 1920s and '30s, this volume is recommended for all readers interested in modern French literature.' - Choice'Walker's research and analysis is equally impressive whether applied to individual works or wider social phenomena.'Journal of European Studies'This remarkable book deals wit what, in poor imitation of Queneau, one might call the factidiversoid aspect of literary representation.'Modern & Contemporary France'Combining traditional literary scholarship with cultural history, David Walker has produced a rich, well-researched volume that makes a usefully divergent contribution to the continuing definition of French cultural studies.'MLR'alert, original, and very thought-provoking'AUMLA

• Part 1 Writers and journalism: from fin de siecle to fait divers - Alfred Jeffrey, Charles-Louis Philippe and "Le Canard Sauvage"; cultivating the fait divers - detective. Part 2 Culture and criminality: old masters - trials, tales and sequestrian in Gide and Mauriac; young iconoclasts - surrealism and the scene of the crime. Part 3 Literature, history and la factidiversialite: literature, history and factidiversiality; the news and the war; the aftermath of calamity. Part 4 Facts, fictions and rumours: Albert Camus - the eye of the reporter; Jean Genet - life among the fait divers. Part 5 Fantasies of violence - female intuitions: consuming news - Simone de Beauvoir; consuming passions - Marguerite Duras. Part 6 Fantasies of violence - male perversions: anything can happen - Jean-Paul Sartre; textual hide-and-seek - Alain Robbe-Grillet. Part 7 Setting the record straight - J.M.G. Le Clezio.

David H. Walker Professor of French,University of Sheffield

'Worth the read for the purely historical information about criminals who were famous in the 1920s and '30s, this volume is recommended for all readers interested in modern French literature.' - Choice'Walker's research and analysis is equally impressive whether applied to individual works or wider social phenomena.'Journal of European Studies'This remarkable book deals wit what, in poor imitation of Queneau, one might call the factidiversoid aspect of literary representation.'Modern & Contemporary France'Combining traditional literary scholarship with cultural history, David Walker has produced a rich, well-researched volume that makes a usefully divergent contribution to the continuing definition of French cultural studies.'MLR'alert, original, and very thought-provoking'AUMLA

• Part 1 Writers and journalism: from fin de siecle to fait divers - Alfred Jeffrey, Charles-Louis Philippe and "Le Canard Sauvage"; cultivating the fait divers - detective. Part 2 Culture and criminality: old masters - trials, tales and sequestrian in Gide and Mauriac; young iconoclasts - surrealism and the scene of the crime. Part 3 Literature, history and la factidiversialite: literature, history and factidiversiality; the news and the war; the aftermath of calamity. Part 4 Facts, fictions and rumours: Albert Camus - the eye of the reporter; Jean Genet - life among the fait divers. Part 5 Fantasies of violence - female intuitions: consuming news - Simone de Beauvoir; consuming passions - Marguerite Duras. Part 6 Fantasies of violence - male perversions: anything can happen - Jean-Paul Sartre; textual hide-and-seek - Alain Robbe-Grillet. Part 7 Setting the record straight - J.M.G. Le Clezio.

David H. Walker Professor of French,University of Sheffield

'Worth the read for the purely historical information about criminals who were famous in the 1920s and '30s, this volume is recommended for all readers interested in modern French literature.' - Choice'Walker's research and analysis is equally impressive whether applied to individual works or wider social phenomena.'Journal of European Studies'This remarkable book deals wit what, in poor imitation of Queneau, one might call the factidiversoid aspect of literary representation.'Modern & Contemporary France'Combining traditional literary scholarship with cultural history, David Walker has produced a rich, well-researched volume that makes a usefully divergent contribution to the continuing definition of French cultural studies.'MLR'alert, original, and very thought-provoking'AUMLA

• Part 1 Writers and journalism: from fin de siecle to fait divers - Alfred Jeffrey, Charles-Louis Philippe and "Le Canard Sauvage"; cultivating the fait divers - detective. Part 2 Culture and criminality: old masters - trials, tales and sequestrian in Gide and Mauriac; young iconoclasts - surrealism and the scene of the crime. Part 3 Literature, history and la factidiversialite: literature, history and factidiversiality; the news and the war; the aftermath of calamity. Part 4 Facts, fictions and rumours: Albert Camus - the eye of the reporter; Jean Genet - life among the fait divers. Part 5 Fantasies of violence - female intuitions: consuming news - Simone de Beauvoir; consuming passions - Marguerite Duras. Part 6 Fantasies of violence - male perversions: anything can happen - Jean-Paul Sartre; textual hide-and-seek - Alain Robbe-Grillet. Part 7 Setting the record straight - J.M.G. Le Clezio.