Contents Of The Dead Man S Pockets

A Study Guide for Jack Finney's "Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets"

Stealing Through Time

The writings of twentieth-century author Jack Finney are classic contributions to the genres of science fiction and suspense thrillers in American literature. Two of Finney's novels, The Body Snatchers and Good Neighbor Sam, became the basis of popular films, but it was his time-travel story Time and Again (1970) that won him a devoted following. The novel about an advertising artist who travels back to the New York of the 1880s quickly became a cult favorite, celebrated especially by New Yorkers for its rich descriptions of life in the city at that time. The year of his death, Finney finished the sequel, From Time to Time (1995). In 1955 he published The Body Snatchers, a chilling tale of aliens who emerge from pods in the guise of humans. Many critics interpreted the insidious infiltration by aliens as a cold war allegory that dramatized America's looming fear of a communist invasion, and the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade twice. Over the course of his career, Finney wrote ten novels, more than 50 short stories, two plays, and a work of nonfiction, all of which are presented and discussed in this book. Also, reproduced in full and analyzed is a series of letters exchanged between Finney and various persons associated with his alma mater, Knox College. These letters give rare insight into Finney's character and demonstrate his personal interest in some of the themes that recur in his fiction. This work begins with an overview of Finney's life and career, presents a complete assessment of the author's works, and concludes with a look at the various ways that Finney's works have been adapted for the stage, television, and film. Also included is the first comprehensive list of Jack Finney's writings ever published.

Dead Man's Hand

In the tradition of his renowned father, James J. Butcher’s debut novel is a brilliant urban fantasy about a young man who must throw out the magical rule book to solve the murder of his former mentor. On the streets of Boston, the world is divided into the ordinary Usuals, and the paranormal Unorthodox. And in the Department of Unorthodox Affairs, the Auditors are the magical elite, government-sanctioned witches with spells at their command and all the power and prestige that comes with it. Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby is…not one of those witches. After flunking out of the Auditor training program and being dismissed as “not Department material,” Grimsby tried to resign himself to life as a mediocre witch. But he can’t help hoping he’ll somehow, someway, get another chance to prove his skill. That opportunity comes with a price when his former mentor, aka the most dangerous witch alive, is murdered down the street from where he works, and Grimsby is the Auditors’ number one suspect. Proving his innocence will require more than a little legwork, and after forming a strange alliance with the retired legend known as the Huntsman and a mysterious being from Elsewhere, Grimsby is abruptly thrown into a life of adventure, whether he wants it or not. Now all he has to do is find the real killer, avoid the Auditors on his trail, and most importantly, stay alive.