The John Riddell murder case : a Philo Vance parody / by John Riddell . ; illustrated by Miguel Covarrubias.

xii, 323 pages, 12 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations ; 20 cm ; LCCN 30026991 OCLC 1825068 LC PN6231.P3 F5 ; yellow textured faux leather covers with lettering and illustration in black .no dustjacket ; pink tracing paper advertisement at back still attached. ; Signature of Paul F. Kops, formerly commercial agent in the New York district office of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce ,later assigned as assistant trade commissioner to Shanghai, on the front endpaper, the Paul F. Kops , The book mocks a number of other best-selling books and authors of the time period. Acting in response to an incomprehensibly phrased note in Walter Winchell's gossip column predicting that John Riddell will be murdered at 9:00 that morning, Philo Vance alerts the police and travels with the narrator to Riddell's home, only to find that they are too late. As might be expected from a work of parody, much of the book's humor comes from absurdities and from the ridiculous portrayals of the writings and authors caricatured. Repetition is frequently employed for comedic effect. The fourth wall is broken on several occasions, as when Philo Vance responds to Heath's suggestion that Vance believes that all of the recent best-selling authors are going to be murdered: "'Already there have been thirteen murders, and we're only at'--he glanced down swiftly--'at page 124.'" Philo Vance himself is portrayed as affecting an inconsistently cultured vocabulary and a lazy style of speaking. For example: "I've been evolvin' a rather fantastic theory, and I want to test it a trifle further." --Wikipedia ; Ford was a member of the Class of 1923 at Columbia College of Columbia University, where he edited the humor magazine Jester of Columbia, and wrote the Varsity Show Half Moon Inn and Columbia's primary fight song, "Roar, Lion, Roar". He also joined, and was expelled from, the Philolexian Society. Failing to graduate, he embarked on a career as a freelance writer and humorist. In the 1930s he was noted for satirical sketches of books and authors penned under the name "John Riddell". Ford published 30 books and more than 500 magazine articles, many of them marked with a gregarious sense of humor, a love of dogs, and "underdogs." He told many stories of the literary scene in the twenties, of headhunters in Dutch Borneo, and of U.S. airmen in combat during World War II. He loved conversation and comradeship and was a great listener as well.--Wikipedia ; G.…