Foul and Fair Play is an examination of classic detective fiction as a genre--an attempt to read a wide variety of texts by different authors as variations on a common and relatively tight set of conventions. Marty Roth covers the period from the "prehistory" of detective fiction in Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Robert Louis Stevenson, and H. G. Wells up to the 1960s, which marked the end, he says, of the classical period--"the end of an extremely conservative paradigm." The detective fiction genre, as Roth defines it, includes analytic detective fiction, hard-boiled detective fiction, and the spy thriller. Roth insists on the structural common ground of these three types of writing and places them in the larger system of mystery fiction that preceded and surrounds them. The first part of the book consists of a reading of conventions: conventions of character (the detective, the criminal), of gender and sexuality, of narrative style, of settings, and of the curious rules of exchange and coincidence that operate in the realm where detective stories take place. The second section deals with the convoluted epistemology of mystery and detective fiction, depending as it does on other major intellectual developments of the late nineteenth century, such as psychoanalysis. An extremely original study, Foul and Fair Play offers many insights into the literary and cultural history of a popular genre.

Explains America's love of sport just as it reveals sport's darker side--the influence of big business, corruption, price gouging, political maneuvering, and media grandstanding. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Fair Play in Sport presents a critical re-working of the classic ideal of fair play and explores its practical consequences for competitive sport. By linking general moral principles and practical cases, the book develops a contemporary theory of fair play. The book examines many of the key issues in the ethics of sport, including: * fairness and justice in sport * moral and immoral interpretation of 'athletic performance' * what makes a 'good competition' * the key values of competitive sport. The notion of fair play is integral to sport as we know and experience it, and is commonly seen as a necessary ethos if competitive sport is to survive and flourish. Fair Play in Sport provides an invaluable guide to the subject for all those with an interest in ethics and the philosophy of sport.

Chicken soup for the baseball lover's soul -- the inimitable Vince Staten takes you out to the ol' ballgame and answers all the baseball questions your dad hoped you wouldn't ask.

This intriguing book offers a comprehensive examination of all issues related to sports and criminal behavior, from high school to professional athlete, player to spectator. Fair or Foul: Sports and Criminal Behavior in the United States is an examination of the intersection of these two increasingly connected worlds. The book was written to answer two questions. First, is there a relationship between athletic participation and criminal behavior? Second, what other connections—positive or negative—exist between sports and crime? To arrive at his answers, author Christopher S. Kudlac surveys professional, college, and high school sports in relation to crime, spectator crime, and gambling. Other topics include how urban sports programs help deter kids from getting involved in crime and how the use of sports in prisons has worked to positive effect. The book also examines the issues of aggression, masculinity, commercial incentives (or disincentives), and other contributing factors that may spur illegal activity among athletes and spectators. Looking at the subject from the perspectives of criminal justice and forensic psychology, Kudlac is able to uncover just how intertwined the two worlds are—for better or for worse.