Meny
Portrait of Jean-Patrick Manchette Photo: Louis Monier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images (1979)

Sample of authors

Manchette, Jean-Patrick

Jean-Patrick Manchette was a French author credited for having revolutionised noir fiction in France. He was born in Marseille. In 1945, the family moved to Malakoff in the Paris area. In 1960, after finishing his upper-secondary education, he moved to Paris where he spent most of his life and where he read English at the Sorbonne.
Manchette joined the militant left during the Algerian War of...

Further reading

Literary figures

Bärlach

Gender: Male

Although he only features in two (short) novels by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Inspector Barlach – no first name is ever mentioned – is one of the most famous policemen in literature. He is old, worn out and unmarried, works in the police force in Bern and has stomach cancer, which he knows will lead to his death within a year. With his great knowledge of human nature and his intuition, he works on his...

Further reading