Perplexing Plots by David Bordwell

I first came across David Bordwell just over six years ago, when out of the blue he sent me a kind email, having just read and enjoyed The Golden Age of Murder. Although I was unfamiliar with his work at that time, I learned that he was a distinguished American academic and an expert in film history. This led to my discovery of his admirable blog which offers a wealth of info and comment about films, including many old favourites of mine. We have stayed in touch and I devoured with great enthusiasm his 2019 book Reinventing Hollywood: How 1940s Filmmakers Changed Movie Storytelling.

While I was working on The Life of Crime, I found on a number of occasions that David's ideas were invaluable in terms of leading me in fresh directions with my own evolving ideas about narrative. So was the information packed into his work. To say the least, it's uncommon to find a distinguished academic who writes with such clarity and elegance, while coming up with insights that are genuinely thought-provoking. This fascinating post is an excellent example, but there are plenty more I could have chosen. So he made a very real contribution to my book.

And now David has just published a splendid new book, Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and The Poetics of Murder, published by Columbia University Press. Again, it's an erudite and meticulously researched volume, but written in such an accessible style and full of such interesting material that I have no hesitation in recommending it. On the back cover, there's a quote in which I say that this is 'the most illuminating study of narrative technique that I've read'. 

High praise, yes, but I stand by every word. I don't mean it to sound as though we've formed a mutual admiration society, but I have found it exciting to come across someone who, although we have never met in person, shares a number of my interests and with whom it's been possible to exchange ideas to mutual benefit. So my warmest congratulations go to David and I hope and expect that this terrific book will achieve the breadth of readership that it deserves.