English Professor Stalking Edgar

Leonard Cassuto, Ph.D., professor of English at Fordham, is up for an Edgar. Cassuto’s book, Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories (Columbia University Press, 2008) is on the ballot for the 2009 Edgar Award in the Best Critical/Biographical book category.

The winners will be announced at the 63rd Annual Edgar Awards Banquet, held on Thursday, April 30, 2009, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan. 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Poe’s birth, and Cassuto’s 20th year at Fordham.

First awarded in 1954, the Edgar, in honor of Edgar Allan Poe, is given by The Mystery Writers of America to the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction produced the previous year. Past winners include James Lee Burke, Dick Francis, Elmore Leonard and Ken Follett.