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John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles
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Plot Summary of John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles
"Mystery writer John Dickson Carr was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania in 1906. As early as high school, he was writing stories for the school magazine. He was sent to a prep school and then to Haverford College, but left after two years. In 1927, he went off to travel in Europe.   During all this time, he was writing stories. On his return to Pennsylvania, he thought to make a career in writing crime fiction. In 1929, after the publication of his first novel, “It Walks by Night,” he moved to Brooklyn Heights. There he became dependent upon alcohol, a dependency that stayed with him throughout his life.

In 1932, he married Clarice Cleaves. She became pregnant and they decided to move to England, where they lived until the war. A prolific writer, Carr wrote novels, short fiction, plays and radio scripts. He became most identified with the locked room mysteries. He died in 1977 of cancer."

Jack Goodstein, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
job/profession: - writer
Job/profession/poverty story Yes
Period of greatest activity? - 1900+

Subject of Biography
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - writer
Biography of famous person? Yes
Ethnicity - White
Nationality - American (!)
How sensitive is this person? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other people

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 2 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
Century: - 1930's-1950's

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Writer's slant towards subject: - favorable
Story of entire life, or part? - story of nearly entire life
If this is a kid's book: - Age 16-Adult
Pictures/Illustrations? - More 6-10 B&W
How much dialogue in bio? - little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 51%-75% of book
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Richmal Crompton: The Woman Behind Just William by Mary Cadogan
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Douglas G. Greene Resident Scholar Profiles

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Jack Goodstein  

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