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James Mallahan Cain

Cain, James M(allahan)

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | | Copyright

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.
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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Cain, James M(allahan)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Cain, James M(allahan)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-CainJamesMallahan.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Cain, James M(allahan)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-CainJamesMallahan.html

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James Mallahan Cain

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

James Mallahan Cain 1892–1977, American novelist, b. Annapolis, Md., grad. Washington College, 1910. He taught journalism (1924–25), wrote political commentaries for the New York World (1924–31), and was a Hollywood screenwriter (1931–33). His early "hard-boiled" novels frequently concern middle-class lovers who are driven to crime and violence. Several were turned into films that became noir classics. Cain's novels include The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934, films 1946, 1981), Double Indemnity (1936, film 1944), Mildred Pierce (1941, film 1945), The Magician's Wife (1966), and Rainbow's End (1974).

Bibliography: See biography by R. Hoopes (1985); studies by D. Madden (1970, 1985), P. Skenazy (1989), R. Fine (1992), and D. Madden and K. Mecholsky (2011).

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"James Mallahan Cain." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"James Mallahan Cain." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Cain-Jam.html

"James Mallahan Cain." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Cain-Jam.html

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