Il detective difettoso. Ritorno al futuro per il romanzo poliziesco

Since its origins, crime novel has had not only loyal readers but also outstanding admirers: many critics and writers – from Eliot to Gadda, from Yates to Brecht – unraveled its logic and links with higher literature.
Tracing trends and myths of the genre, from its origins in Poe to the thriller’s intermingling with great literature, this essay suggests some intriguing questions. After the era of Holmes-like Olympian detectives and “poisoned” metropolitan heroes à la Sam Spade, has the time come for the flawed detective? Recovering the pitfalls of a “gothic line” of the detective story (from Chesterton to Dickson Carr), and mixing them with Hammett’s masterful lesson, a possible new path can be identified for a literary genre still beloved by many and given prematurely for dead by too many.