Examines the debate about popular fiction in the last two decades and its position within popular culture, with reference to crime fiction, soap opera, romance and TV sitcoms.

Introduction; Part I Concepts and methods; Chapter 1 Approaches to popular fiction; Chapter 2 Narrative grammar; Chapter 3 Narrative and connotative processes; Chapter 4 The speaking/reading subject; Chapter 5 Narrative and ideology; Chapter 6 Hegemony and subject position; Chapter 7 Genre; Part II Case studies; Chapter 8 Crime fiction: the genre dimension; Chapter 9 Crime fiction: film noir and gender; Chapter 10 Soap opera, romance and femininity; Chapter 11 Reading as a Woman; Chapter 12 Sitcom: commercial imperatives and humour; Chapter 13 Sitcom and social reality;

Jerry Palmer is a Professor of Communications at City of London Polytechnic. He is the author of Thrillers (1978) and The Logic of the Absurd (1987), and the wide range of articles he has written on popular culture indicates his lasting interest in the field.