Chapter 5 Frederick Denney

American detective novelist and critic Anthony Butcher once commented on Ellery Quinn: "Ellery Quinn is American detective fiction." The American Golden Age detective novel is a rare work that can compete with the British.But on the other hand, as a writer, editor, and scholar, Ellery Quinn's great influence on the creation and publication of detective novels at the same time and even later is also an important reason for this evaluation.Still, Quinn's avatar as editor, scholar, refers primarily to Frederick Dennay of the duo. Frederick Denney was born on October 20, 1905 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.But in 1906, when Dennay was less than a year old, his family moved to rural Elmira, New York, separated from his cousin Manfred B. Lee.The literary master Mark Twain also lived in Elmira, where Dennay spent a Tom Sawyer-style childhood.The cousins ​​are very close, and every year during the holidays, Li always visits Dannai. In 1917, the Dennay family returned to Brooklyn, and the cousins ​​have been inseparable ever since.This winter, Dannai was bedridden due to illness, and his aunt read Conan Doyle's "History of Adventure" to him at the bedside.The next morning, he sneaks out of the house, swindles a library card, and grabs as many Sherlock Holmes novels as he can from the library shelves.This is Dannai's first contact with detective novels, which has influenced his whole life.

Dannai's early ideal was to become a poet.But because of Prohibition, his father lost his job and had to drop out of high school. In 1921, at the age of 16, Dennay worked part-time to support his family.He worked in various occupations such as a bookstore salesperson, until his family situation gradually improved seven years later.Finally, he got his high school diploma and went to art school to learn painting. In 1928 he became editor and art director of an advertising agency. In 1928, a detective essay competition held by McClure's magazine and Stokes Press led to two young people who both liked detective novels planning to write detective novels, thus giving birth to Ellery Queen's first work.Although it didn't actually win, the publisher still published the book and won the first battle. In 1931, the two finally gave up their work to concentrate on writing, and began a 40-year cooperative career.

Dennay said of fiction writing: "There are no shortcuts or easy paths to success. The writing game is mind-blowing. To be successful you need to have these things: talent and perseverance—and you need both." As Dannai, one of the Quinn groups, was responsible for writing the outline of the novel during the cooperation process. His creative concept can be said to have influenced the concept of the entire Quinn work. "The essence of detective fiction is to make the impossible possible." (Dennay: "The Essence of Detective Fiction") In the early series of country names and tragedies, this idea is most prominent.The inexplicable disappearance of the hat, the incredible upside-down crime, the mysterious disappearance of the murder weapon, etc., all the inconceivable cases have become possible under Ellery's superb reasoning.What is commendable is that the novel abides by the principle of fair competition and puts detectives and readers on the same footing for puzzle-solving competitions.Therefore, all the elements in Quinn's novels are the essence of mystery-solving (benge) detective novels.It is no wonder that Tang Nuo, a Taiwanese reasoning critic, sighed: "Ellery Quinn's novels, which are a collection of classic reasoning novels, are the most museum-like things in the history of reasoning. It has original tricks, but it is more of a summary. The cleverest creations of previous generations of reasoning masters are subtly transformed --- this kind of achievement does not rely on the intelligence of a single individual, but is equivalent to the collective creation of masters of all ages, which makes Quinn have a huge number of novels, and each novel is like a Russian doll. , One trick within another trick makes people dazzled, which is why some people feel that after reading Quinn, it is equivalent to summarizing the centuries-old tradition of mystery novels."

In the middle and later works, Dannai's concept has undergone major changes, and one of the major features is that "the existence of the detective" has a great influence on the story.This is the so-called "late Quine problem".Originally, the "detective" in classical mystery detective novels looked down from above and solved the incident from a god-like perspective.But in Quinn's works after the middle period, Quinn, who should be a detective, is himself related to the incident.This is not simply the level of "being involved in the incident", but the murderer has set up a conspiracy based on the premise of "the existence of Detective Quinn" from the beginning. If the detective does not exist, the conspiracy cannot be established, that is, the existence of the detective Raise a level and pull in one of the characters who becomes the character on the scene.Quinn, who reasoned in the wrong direction because he fell into the trap of the murderer, was distressed, so he decided not to intervene in the incident again. , and other works are such representative works.

Not only that, but the late Quinn's works turned from pure reasoning games to serious literary elements.Dannai believes that detective novels can become serious literature, so the works involve the culture and political thoughts of the time, pay attention to the deep psychological excavation, the themes of the novels become serious, and at the same time, the works do not abandon the concept of fair competition in early novels. Puzzle principles.In short, political, social, and philosophical themes figure prominently in later Quine novels.Dennay once expressed his philosophy to Lee: "In a way (the novel) is a reflection on detective fiction and fictional detectives; more directly and more importantly, it is a reflection on Ellery as fiction The reflection of the character and the detective. The reflection is thorough and destructive, and the irony is that Ellery is still right at the end. But in the process of reflection -- and as one of its Turns out — Ellery should be alone. My opinion is that the only reasonable conclusion to draw from this whole reflection on Ellery's unreliability and 'brilliance' is that he has abandoned reasoning. Hence, this is his last case."

Running a high-quality detective magazine was one of Lee and Dannay's early ambitions. In 1933, the two hosted the detective magazine Mysterious League.Unfortunately, after only four issues in January 1934, The Mysterious Alliance came to an end.The hard work got little return, which is one of the reasons why Li didn't want to run the magazine anymore.But Dannai never gave up his dream of running a magazine. In 1941 he finally persuaded a publisher to start the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (EQMM).Dennay set forth the magazine's clear goals from the outset: to "elevate the horizons of detective fiction writers to the level of true literature", to "encourage and provide a venue for the best works among their peers", to "discover the A new writer who has made a difference in the field".

EQMM publishes approximately 150 detective stories each year, two-thirds of which are new stories and the rest are reprints.But for every novel accepted, hundreds or even thousands of novels are rejected.In this regard, Dennay once wrote in the editor's notes of EQMM: "We cannot expect to satisfy all the authors who submit, whether young or old, famous or unknown, and we will receive many comments from fledgling authors. Letter expressing disappointment with our editorial policy, although we publish more 'first stories' than other journals of this type, these are unavoidable... Our needs are few, and our criteria are broad; we want only the best Does the reader of Ellery Quinn's Mystery Magazine need anything else?" Dennay also lamented the rejection, saying, "When a manuscript is returned, the editor is heartbroken." More than the writer—especially when the editor is also the writer."

Dannai's philosophy of running EQMM is to be inclusive and inclusive.He made a point of digging up the almost forgotten classics of short detective fiction.Detective detective novels are undoubtedly the type that Quinn is most concerned about, but he can also praise crime novels without prejudice, and more importantly, he spares no effort to use his keen eyes to discover new writers of various types of detective novels.Dennay recalled the process of discovering the short detective story prodigy Stanley Allyn as follows: One day at the end of 1946, he had just returned home from a banquet that was over, and it was already late, but he still called the executive of EQMM. The editor-in-chief asked the editorial department to send him the recent outstanding submissions for his review.The editors mentioned that they had received a strange novel of unknown origin, undescribable, unclassifiable.This manuscript was submitted by an unknown author, and it is very suitable to participate in the EQMM 3rd Detective Fiction Award, which has begun to be enthusiastically called for, but the editors cannot judge whether this is an incredible groundbreaking masterpiece or a fundamental one. Manuscripts that do not comply with the competition rules.After Dannai received the manuscript, he carefully read the titled novel. Sure enough, the whole novel was suspenseful and treacherous, and the psychological turning point and final ending were unimaginable. He was greatly shocked, and immediately concluded that this is "one of the best works in history." One", if he is not yet sure that it is the "best work".It was Dannai's wise move that created the road of "surprising novels" in later generations.

Dennay does not see a divide between detective fiction and serious literature.He invited serious literary masters to create detective crime novels, including more than 40 Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winners, such as Rudia Kipling, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Norman ·Mailer, Alice Walker and others, it must be said that their handwriting is great.One critic even claimed that Dennay "would make (the detective story) look as if every writer in history had written at least one (crime) novel".This move not only enhanced the status of EQMM, but also increased the influence of detective novels.Another thing that made EQMM climb to the top of the magazine was the holding of the Quinn Prize Call for Papers. This call for papers was held for thirteen sessions from 1945 to 1957. EQMM also hosts the World Short Detective Call for Papers, extending its reach to the world.

Dannai's editorial level is praised and respected by most of the contributors.Detective writer Bill Pronszin recalled: "His editorial work was like a tinkerer—often changing the title of the novel, replacing words and phrases in the text, and even rewriting sentences—and my unconsulted The revisions are not all in favor. But I have never objected to Fred's textual changes in my manuscript; I have not even argued for them. His revisions are always careful to consider the writer's point of view, and to make the idea or plot clearer , the characters are fuller, and the dialogue or narration is more fluent.” Almost every manuscript reviewed by Dannai has traces of corrections, and he will contact the author many times for revisions, which shows that he is responsible for the editorial work.

Early on, readers benefit from Dennay's deep knowledge of detective fiction.He wipes the dusty pearls and presents them in front of the readers, or scrambles and quotes from the classics in the editor's notes.He also invites top scholars and critics in the industry to participate in EQMM. In 1946, he asked the famous historian of reasoning Howard Highgraph to host the book review column "Speaking of Crime" (Heygraph once won the Edgar Award for this column and the history of reasoning "Murder for Entertainment"). In 1949, Anthony Butcher took over Highgraf presided over the column, and Butcher presided over the fixed book review column "Monthly Best Detective Fiction" in 1957. Since then, the book review column renamed "Jury Box" has been successively chaired by John Dixon Carr, Jon L. Brin lead writer.Dennay gives book reviewers maximum freedom without interference.Butcher once told Dennay that he hated a book (Dennay thought it was because the novel offended the deeply religious Butcher), and asked Dennay how he should evaluate the book.Dannai told Butcher that he hosted the column himself, and he could comment on it as he wanted.Dannai even felt that such a question was an insult. Anthony Butcher once wrote in the "New York Times Book Review" that each issue of EQMM is edited according to Quinn's own taste.Not only does Quinn "collaborate extensively" with his authors to realize the potential of their novels, but there are also writers who borrow themes and motives from Quinn's work, which are all too frequent in EQMM.Therefore, readers will find that the theme emphasized by Quine has appeared in both Dashiel Hammett and AHZ Carr's novels: there is a close relationship between poetry and reasoning.Readers will also find a story by Isaac Asimov in response to Danay and Lee themselves.Francis M. Reeves, an expert on Quine research, pointed out: "I don't know whether we should say it was accidental, or Quinn's intentional setting, or the author's tricks to contribute to EQMM, but the fact is that , Quine's influence went beyond himself and influenced other writers." Although Dennay has also complained that editing EQMM is an extremely nerve-wracking thing.However, he persisted as the editor-in-chief of EQMM until his death, and made it the best detective fiction magazine in the world. EQMM has published countless excellent detective novels, spawned a large number of detective novel writers, and produced a huge and indelible influence. Before Dannay, there were also anthologies of short detective stories on the market, but few editors spared no effort in the development of short detective stories like Dannay. The name of "Ellery Quinn" appeared on the covers of about one hundred anthologies and collections of detective stories, and he was the most active, most accomplished and most influential anthologist at that time. In 1938, the first anthology "Challenging the Reader" edited by Ellery Quinn appeared.In the collection, the editor hides the real name of the detective, allowing readers to guess the name of the detective and the author.The role of this kind of challenge is not obvious, and it is just a piece of cake for readers who are familiar with detective novels, and it is far less difficult than the "challenge readers" of the country name series. In 1941, shortly after founding EQMM, Dennay published the anthology "101 Years of Entertainment: The Great Detective Novels 1841-1941", which can be called a milestone in the history of reasoning.The purpose of the book is to "paint the whole panorama of (the detective story) over a hundred years".Dannai's introduction and preface commentary, both academic atmosphere and literary talent, are as worthy of attention as the novel. The great success of "101 Years of Entertainment" prompted Dennay to publish more anthologies, and he compiled anthologies almost every year thereafter. A large part of the anthologies edited by Dennay are compiled from novels on EQMM, such as the "Quine Award Anthology" (EQMM's Best Fiction of the Year) series started in 1946, and the "Quine Annual Anthology" series started in 1959. "(EQMM Annual Selection) series, etc.These moves provide more opportunities for reprints and preservation of short stories in magazines. Also noteworthy is Dennay's collection of short stories by individual authors.Among them, the most valuable is the collection of 9 short stories by Dashiell Hammett. The short stories of Hammett scattered in cheap magazines were sorted and screened by Dannai, which provided valuable materials for later researchers.Also cited as treasures by detective fiction collectors are Dennay's editors Margerie Allingham, John Dickson Carr, O. Henry, Earl Stanley Gardner, Edward D. A collection of detective stories by famous writers such as Hawke. In addition, Dannay also reported to BSI (Baker Street Squad, the famous Sherlock Holmes club in the United States, Quinn—mainly Dannay) is also a member of BSI, and was awarded the title of "Dying Detective" because of the frequent dying messages in the novel. ”), edited and published the famous collection of Sherlock Holmes plays The Failures of Sherlock Holmes (1944).The book was banned because of the opposition of Conan Doyle's descendants, and it became a treasure in the eyes of detective novel collectors. In 1947, Dennay edited "The Murder of Experts", which was selected by members of the newly established MWA (American Detective Writers Association), which became a model for MWA's later anthologies. In 1978, Dannai also edited "Twelve Selected Masterpieces of Japanese Mystery Fiction: The World of Japanese Detective Fiction", which can be regarded as a pioneering anthology for the European and American world to understand Japanese mystery novels. It is no accident that Dennay has a special liking for short detective stories. He founded EQMM and edited anthologies based on the fact that he also has the best collection of detective stories (especially short detective stories).His collection is a sanctuary for the detective fiction reader: Poe's Tales in original packaging, Beeton's Christmas Annual in original packaging (published here), A History of Adventures with an inscription, Covered Memoirs, manuscripts of A Scandal in Bohemia, Futrill's Thinking Machine (with inscription) in addition to Dupin and Holmes, Maurice LeBlanc's Arson Lupin, Freeman's John Thorndike (signed copy), Father Brown of Chesterton (signed copy), Uncle Abner of Post, Hercule Poirot, Peter Winch, Charlie Chan, Saints, Sam · Spade, Perry Mason, Philip Marlowe, etc., are first edition rare books (these books were later assigned to the University of Texas). He later also collected rare poetry collections for his own hobby, including Browning, Byron, Chaucer, Coleridge, Crane, Dickinson, Eliot, Housman, Hughes, Keats, Gibb Lin, Masefield, Masters, Poe, Robinson, Sandberg, Shakespeare, Shelley, Tennyson, Thomas, Whitman, etc. (most sold by Christie's in 1983).Of these, Masefield's Leonard the Fox has 54 pen and watercolor illustrations in the margins, blank pages, and front and end.Only three such editions with inscriptions and illustrations are known to exist, the other two belonging to King George V of England and Constance, wife of Masefield. Dennay also used his rich collection of short detective stories and profound knowledge of detective stories to complete two important research works on short detective stories in history: "Bibliography of Short Detective Fiction" (1942) and "Quine's Selection: Based on The 106 Most Important Collections of Detective Fiction Since 1845 Presenting the History of the Short Detective Crime Fiction" (1951, updated to 125 in the 1969 revised edition). The Bibliography of Short Detective Stories is a monograph on the study of short detective novels. It carefully sorts out the collections of short stories before 1942, and lists all the collections of reasoning short stories published at that time in alphabetical order of the author's name. An important early reference book. Quinn's Best Picks is the most important monograph on short detective crime history in history.Dennay divides the history of short reasoning into several eras, including the cradle period, the birth, the first 50 years, Doyle's 10 years, the first golden age, the second golden age, the first modern period, and the second modern period , The Renaissance, etc., interspersed with 125 important collections of short stories from Poe's "Nine Mile Walk" (1845) to Harry Kelman's "Nine Mile Walk" (1967).Among them, the selected books focus on historical status, novel quality and difficulty of collection (only one of them can be selected). Even after more than 30 years, it seems that the value is still not diminished, so it has become an important collection guide for later generations of detective novel collectors. Dennay also edited his notes at EQMM into In Quinn's Talking Room and Other Notes from the Editor (1957).This book contains 50 various essays related to detective stories.There is "Anatomy of a Headline" discussing the art of headlines, "Desert Island Reading List" for a light-hearted discussion of recommended books, "She Wasn't All a Sphinx" about the history of female detectives, and "Dennay, Carl, and Lawson discuss Impossible Crime's Miracle Will Never End, and more. Dennay and Lee have arguably been one of the longest-running and most successful partnerships in literary history.Interestingly, they have cooperated for more than 40 years and have been noisy for more than 40 years.Not only do they have differences in creative concepts (especially in the later stage), but they also disagree in various aspects.In terms of creative ideas, especially Dannai's view that detective novels can be written as serious literature, Lee expressed doubts.Li also expressed dissatisfaction with Dennay's finding someone else to co-write the book. He wrote to Dennay: "It is impossible for me to write a novel plot like yours-not even half. But, on the other hand, you Nor can I write as well as I do... not even half. Only the two put together--a clever plot, a distinctive prose--could make a Quinn. If you think you Or someone else's writing plus those plots can make Quinn, then you are wrong. It's like me or someone else's plot plus my writing is definitely not Quine, but something completely irrelevant." Despite this, their friendship never changed. On the evening of September 3, 1982, Frederick Dennay passed away.His personal papers, gifted to the University of California by his sons Richard and Douglas Denney in 1985 and 1987, are now housed in the University Library's Rare Book and Manuscript Collection.These documents include Danay's correspondence, novel outlines, manuscripts, contracts, photographs, poems, and approximately 4,600 EQMM contributions.Its total reached 25,000 pieces in 190 cases.Perhaps someday a biographer will use this astonishing material to write a good biography of Quinn. Yet as Francis M. Reeves puts it: "There is also the immeasurable achievement of Quinn (here Dennay), in the thousands of letters he wrote to writers and readers, in his In offices where he worked, during his short lectures at the University of Texas, and in countless conversations. Those who were lucky enough to talk to Quinn, see him and listen to him at work, You will really feel the experience of 'pilgrimage' and see his boundless energy." Only a short article can't fully express Dannai's contributions in all aspects.Finally, I end with a short poem by Danai.If Ellery Queen hadn't appeared, Dennay might have become a poet in literature (this was his early dream, but Dennay's poems except one appeared in the autobiographical novel "Golden Summer" Other than that, the rest have not been published or published as a collection):