Christyne Berzsenyi’s Columbo: A Rhetoric of Inquiry With Resistant Responders looks at the classic series in a detailed analytical light. Books about Columbo are nothing new, but the depth of this book serves well to prove that the series can handle academic scrutiny. Columbo is a much beloved and long running property, which has in recent years regained something of a foothold in American popular culture thanks to the internet. As a result, more than a few blogs are cited in the book, and conversely the volume has a larger audience than it might were the series still more obscure.
Early on the author notes that her “doctoral education … changed my point of view, as all education can and should” which comes across as a powerful statement in almost any context, but serves as an example of the reason Columbo is worth reexamining. The question of past academic examination of detective fiction is brought up, and the comparative lack of such material related to Columbo examined. This, in addition to proving interesting, will help to justify to the reader why it is that some unusual or less academic sources crop up within the book.
This volume begins by looking at the lead character and, to a lesser extent, his antagonists, before expanding to topics ranging from Columbo’s methods, to the influence of the series overall, and beyond. Each is interesting alone; however, it is quite often the ways they interact that deepen the book. Demographic information relating to the various killers and criminals in the book is used to suggest that everything from race and culture to gender play roles in Columbo’s decisions, but that class is key to his behavior and methodology working as well as they do. It is an extremely effective argument, supported by many examples.
Make no mistake, this is an academic text, and enjoyment of it will rely to a strong extent upon preexisting understanding of not only Columbo, but also rhetoric and story analysis. Further, the editing and formatting are questionable at times, with chapter 2 seeming to end mid-sentence on the ebook. The same occurs at the end of chapter 3 and many others. The fact that the same mistake happens so often suggests it is a result of ebook formattingy. Such flaws are bewildering in an otherwise well written and well researched volume, leaving a reader scattered if not completely lost in terms of fully understanding the story.
Much of the last ten percent of the book is bibliographical, notes about images, and other similar ways of citing the many sources and works that helped to shape this book. For one looking to do further research, or questioning the conclusions of the text, such things are invaluable.
Overall Berzsenyi has produced a detailed and well thought out look at many different aspects of Columbo. The book covers the phenomena in general, but also manages to successfully look at the methodology of the detective in terms of getting information and results during his cases. While the formatting on the ebook.com ebook was a problem, the overall material of the text was more than useful, and the physical edition had no such errors.
(Intellect/University of Chicago Press, 2021)
