The so-called hard-boiled school of detective-fiction writers, whose most wellknown representatives were Hammett, Chandler, and Spillane, presented realistic, often depressing pictures of American society as being deeply, irreparably corrupted by greed, cruelty, and dishonesty. This was a society from which the ruggedly independent private eye must rebel yet must also, ironically, protect by maintaining a basic code of law and order. This romantic, heroic viewpoint is echoed in the stance of many comic-book heroes, such as Superman and Batman, who battle both villains and corruption, as well as in the tales of King Arthur and his knights. In his Spenser novels, Parker shows his debt to and understanding of the writers who formed and popularized the genre of detective fiction, along with his broad knowledge of the similar literature that preceded it.

1. How does Parker make his hero different from all those who have gone before...