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Blockbuster!: Fergus Hume the Mystery of a Hansom Cab Online 02to4 [Free download] Blockbuster!: Fergus Hume the Mystery of a Hansom Cab Online [02to4.ebook] Blockbuster!: Fergus Hume the Mystery of a Hansom Cab Pdf Free Lucy Sussex ePub | *DOC | audiobook | ebooks | Download PDF Download Now Free Download Here Download eBook #1312485 in Books 2016-06-14Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.10 x 1.00 x 6.00l, .0 #File Name: 192214794X308 pages | File size: 37.Mb Lucy Sussex : Blockbuster!: Fergus Hume the Mystery of a Hansom Cab before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised Blockbuster!: Fergus Hume the Mystery of a Hansom Cab: 0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating account of late nineteenth century best sellerBy Charles TaylorWhen I think of literary history, which I admit is rarely, what comes to mind is a carefully researched stodgy catalogue of worthy nineteenth century authors organized into schools and influences, filled with accounts of old manifestos and outdated controversies."Blockbuster" is nothing of the sort - it is lively, even gossipy. It brings the milieu to life - a humanely run New Zealand madhouse, the theatre scene in the days of "Marvelous Melbourne", Theosophists, dodgy financiers and the gay scene in Victorian London. Focusing on a single work by a single author allows Lucy Sussex to tie all these together in a vivid and entertaining account of the times.If, like me, you've had a copy of "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab" on your shelves - and there must be many who do, because it is still in print - this book may inspire you as it did me, to finally get around to reading it!2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A very interesting read.By Cloggie Downunderldquo;Everybody did everything righthellip;.from the author who researched his market and plotted his whodunnit carefully, to the publisher who packaged an attractive product and marketed it with real brilliance. As a result, Hansom Cab became a fad, the book everybody had to read, commodity capitalism at workrdquo;.Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is a non-fiction book by New Zealand-born researcher, editor, writer and literary archaeologist (who ever knew there was such a person?), Lucy Sussex. In the late nineteenth century, Dunedin eacute;migreacute;, Fergus Hume wrote a detective novel to try to interest Melbourne theatres in his work as a playwright. That book, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, became the biggest and fastest-selling detective novel of its time, outselling Arthur Conan Doylersquo;s first Sherlock Holmes book: a literary blockbuster.As well as touching on Humersquo;s own story, Sussexrsquo;s meticulous research examines lives, fortunes and ultimate fates of those involved in the writing, publication and marketing of Hanson Cab: readers, reviewers, investors, supporters and publishers, to name a few. The impersonations, scams and fraud that resulted from this publishing phenomenon are also described. Each chapter is prefaced by a relevant quote from one of Humersquo;s later works, showing how incidents in his life became inspiration for these.Sussex also provides a selection of reviews of the Hansom Cab, four pages of relevant colour plates, an extensive bibliography and comprehensive end-notes and index. She discusses the likely fate and provenance of the few remaining (and very valuable) copies of early editions. This is a book that will appeal to readers who like to get behind the story.Sussex tells us just how important this book was: ldquo;Above all, the work consolidated detective fiction as a publishing genre, one with a mass readership of avid fanshellip;hellip;others had shown that the market existed for tales of crime, but it took the blockbusting success of Hanson Cab, achieved by Trischlerrsquo;s brilliant marketing, to prove how lucrative crime fiction crime fiction could be. Publishers took note and, over a century later, detective fiction is still a marker leaderrdquo;. A very interesting read.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A rich insight into the world's first publishing phenomenon .By NarrelleAustralian historian and crime writer, Lucy Sussex, breathes vitality and wry humour into this biography of a book. She explores Hume, his contemporaries and Hansom Cabrsquo;s history in paper and celluloid with warmth and attention to human detail. One of her great achievements as a book- biographer is to bring alive decades in which Hume and the book existed, bringing deeper understanding to both through their historical and social context. Sussex mines rich veins of Victorian attitudes to fiction, the theatre, Colonials, homosexuality and class divides for the fullest picture.If you're a passionate reader of crime fiction, Blockbuster! will give you a solid, erudite, accessible and often affectionate grounding into the history of crime fiction, the parallel careers of Fergus Hume and Arthur Conan Doyle and a rich insight into the world's first publishing phenomenon . ‘For anyone fond of detective stories or fascinated by publishing history, Blockbuster! makes for highly enjoyable and informative reading.rsquo;—Washington Post‘“Fergus whom?rdquo; One might well ask before meeting this prolific author in Sussexrsquo;s capacious account, set at the birth of a genre that still entertains and engages readers today: the crime novel….Provides a rich picture of Victorian life and a revealing account of late 19th-century publishing practices. She also captures a shapshot of the mystery genre as it existed before Humersquo;s contemporary competitor, Arthur Conan Doyle, completely eclipsed him and inspired legions of imitators. Who now cares about Fergus Hume? Sussexrsquo;s fascinating book reveals why all crime fiction readers should.rsquo;—Publishers Weekly'What Blockbuster! actually does best is intrigue us about everyone in the vast, tangled web around Mystery of a Hansom Cab. Frederick Trischler (the get-rich-quick man who would stumble onto success selling Hume's novel), actress Amy Horton (a champion of Hume's thanks to the daring roles he wrote for women), and Alice Cornwell (who left her husband to become a gold miner and got rich enough to buy London's Sunday Times) were such strong influences on Hume that he later fictionalized them.'—NPR'An exemplar of cogent scholarship, engagingly presented.'—Fine Books Magazine'Fascinating.'—Sydney Morning Herald'Told with wit and lightly worn scholarship....Sussex has written a fine, thoroughly engaging and multifaceted history.'—The Australian'Sussex skillfully assembles the know information about a very private man and his times, and reveals a Victorian world whose machinations and mysteries are equal to those of his most famous fiction.'—Stuff NZ'Part literary criticism, part biography, part history...it succeeds admirably. It is well researched and well written, and evokes the literary scene in 1880s Melbourne in an informative yet entertaining way.'—Books + Publishing Before Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, there was Fergus Hume's The Mystery of a Hansom Cab—the biggest and fastest-selling detective novel of the 1800s, and Australia's first literary blockbuster. The novel sold out its first run almost instantly and became a bestseller—but Hume sold the copyright for a mere pound;50, missing out on a potential fortune.Blockbuster! is the engrossing story of a book that would help define the genre of crime fiction. A must-read for fans of true crime, history, and crime fiction alike.Lucy Sussex's award-winning fiction includes books for younger readers and the novel The Scarlet Rider. About the AuthorLucy Sussex was born in New Zealand. She has edited four anthologies and five short story collections. Her award-winning fiction includes books for younger readers and the novel The Scarlet Rider. 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