About the Author
CORNELL WOOLRICH (1903-68), considered by many to be the inventor of the noir genre, wrote his first novel while still attending Columbia University. Many screenplays have been based on his mysteries, including
Night Has a Thousand Eyes, The Leopard Man, and
Rear Window.
RICHARD DOOLINGs novel White Mans Grave was a finalist for the 1994 National Book Award. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker. His most recent novel is Bet Your Life, a modern take on noir detective fiction. He also writes for the ABC series Stephen Kings Kingdom Hospital.
Reading Group Guide
1. Critics in Woolrichs day considered him the “king of the thriller.” Would you agree?
2. Rendezvous in Black was a radical departure from the detective stories popular in Woolrichs day. What sets it apart?
3. In the essay “Cornell Woolrich: Psychologist, Poet, Painter, Moralist,” Francis Lacassin states that the reader identifies with the main characters through Woolrichs elements of “the noble or pathetic.” Is Johnny pathetic or noble? Is he in fact the hero or the victim?
4. Woolrich described his writing as a “form of subconscious selfexpression.” Some critics have interpreted this statement as Woolrich using his own fanciful crimes as therapy for his personal problems and have gone so far as to suggest that Woolrichs readers view the story in the same light. Is this nontraditional detective story cathartic in any way? If so, how?