Evan Hunter

Blackboard Jungle Evan Hunter

Publisher Marketing: The author of the book and the producer of the movie that followed it almost certainly did not intend the book would have the result it produced. It was intended as social commentary on the degeneration of today's youth and a warning to parents. They did not know and could not have known that the book and the movie that followed it would lead to a REVOLUTION in society and bring on the Era of Rock and Roll. It is widely agreed that the movie Blackboard Jungle staring Glen Ford caused the Rock and Roll Revolution. Millions of kids watched this movie and they took up the life styles of the kids depicted in the movie. The dance scenes when the movie opens were brief, lasting only a few seconds, but soon all kids were dancing like that, lifting up their partners and twirling them in the air. Bill Haley did not invent Rock and Roll and his song Rock Around the Clock was not the first song in that style, but it was the song all the kids listened to and followed. Next came Elvis and the rest is history. The opening scene to Blackboard Jungle shows students dancing in the school yard to the sound of Rock Around the Clock. Although this dance sequence lasted only a few seconds, millions of kids watched it and they all started dancing this way. Review Citations: Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/1995 pg. 330 (EAN 9781568493992, Library Binding) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2000 pg. 335 (EAN 9781568493992, Library Binding) Contributor Bio:  Hunter, Evan Ed McBain, a recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's coveted Grand Master Award, was also the first American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association's highest award. His books have sold more than one hundred million copies, ranging from the more than fifty titles in the 87th Precinct series (including the Edgar Award-nominated "Money, Money, Money)" to the bestselling novels written under his own name, Evan Hunter -- including "The Blackboard Jungle" (now in a 50th anniversary edition from Pocket Books) and Criminal Conversation. "Fiddlers, " his final 87th Precinct novel, was recently published in hardcover. Writing as both Ed McBain and Evan Hunter, he broke new ground with "Candyland, " a novel in two parts. He also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." He died in 2005. Visit www.edmcbain.com. Contributor Bio:  Thomas, Ken Harry Tolley was Special Professor in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham who works as a researcher, author and freelance consultant. He is co-author of How to Pass Verbal Reasoning Tests, How to Pass Numeracy Tests, How to Succeed at an Assessment Centre and How to Pass the Police Initial Recruitment Test, all published by Kogan Page.