James Mallahan Cain

James Mallahan Cain 1892-1977, American novelist, b. Annapolis, Md., grad. Washington College, 1910. He taught journalism (1924-25) and wrote political commentaries for the New York World (1924-31). His "hard-boiled" novels concern middle-class lovers who are driven to crime and violence. They include The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934), Double Indemnity (1936), Mildred Pierce (1941), The Magician's Wife (1966), and Rainbow's End (1974).

Bibliography: See biography by R. Hoopes (1985); study by D. Madden (1985).

Cain, James M[allahan] (1892–1977), novelist and journalist, known for his novels of racketeers and others on the criminal fringe. His books include The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934); dramatized, 1936; made into a film, 1946, 1981; adapted as an opera, 1982), a tough story, written in a popularization of Hemingway's style, about the plotting of a voluptuous girl and her lover, a young drifter, to murder her husband; Double Indemnity (1936); Serenade (1937); Mildred Pierce (1941), which treats a mother's fierce love for a thankless daughter; Love's Lovely Counterfeit (1942); Past All Dishonor (1946), set in Nevada during the Civil War; The Butterfly (1947); The Moth (1948); Galatea (1953); Mignon (1962), set in New Orleans just after the Civil War; Rainbow's End (1975); and The Institute (1976). The Baby in the Icebox (1981) collects stories.