Ross Macdonald is one of America s best-selling mys-

tery writers, and one of the most lit-

erate. He uses his wry private eye,

Lew Archer, to tie together a popular

mythology through which he explores

the ills of the modern world with caus-

tic compassion.

All this within the demanding limits

of detective fiction. How has he done

it? This book takes the reader on an

exploration in depth of Macdonald

country, where Catifornia symbolizes

man s inabilty to cope with himself

and the world.

All of Macdonald s novels are

treated, with emphasis on his major

works, including The Galton Case, The

Zebra-Striped Hearse, The Under-

ground Man, and The Blue Hammer.

A biographical study of the writer--

under his own name, Kenneth Millar

--sets the stage. Then follows an

adroit critical assessment of his work

and the influences on him, with an

extensive analysis of his themes and

motifs, especially in Freudian patterns

of behavior. Jerry Speir sets a lively

tone as he traces, with a critic s eye,