Verbal irony is the use of words to convey something other than their literal meaning. If you accidentally dropped the ice cream cone you just bought and said, “Oh, great!”, you’d be using verbal irony.
Westlake was a three-time winner of the Edgar Award and a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, as well as an Academy Award nominee for his script writing. He is most famous for his comic mysteries starring melancholic criminal John Dortmunder and (as Richard Stark) his crime thrillers starring steely, workmanlike criminal Parker.
To Durkheim, the ‘sacred’ constituted that which society as a whole held apart, separate, in the realm of high-minded ideals. In contrast, the ‘profane’ is that which is everyday – the purview of individual people figuring out their normal lives.
With his Western novel The Sisters Brothers currently enjoying a big screen adaptation and his ‘tragedy of manners’ French Exit beloved by the literary establishment, Patrick deWitt is both a proven author and one to watch.
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