Irish William. After-Dinner Story

J. B. Lippincott Company. 1944. — 178 p.After-Dinner Story is a terrific collection of six short stories by the master of suspense, Cornell Woolrich. Everything from revenge for an unsolved murder, to a man convalescing who believes a man has murdered his wife but can’t get anyone to believe him, to pyromania, and a writer whose story eerily resembles an actual murder, make up a terrific collection. For those who love great stories, told as only Woolrich was capable, this is fantastic... The plot of Rear Window is well-known because of the Hitchcock film, which basically follows Woolrich’s original story with a few cast alterations. The Night Reveals might be the most involving and was adapted for radio’s Suspense, as was After-Dinner Story.Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich (4 April 1903 — 25 September 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer who wrote under the names Cornell Woolrich, George Hopley, and William Irish. His biographer Francis Nevins Jr. rated him the 4th best crime writer of his day behind Dashiell Hammett, Eric Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler. Like Chandler, little is known about his personal life. Woolrich was born in New York City and his parents separated when he was young. He lived for a time in Mexico with his father before returning to New York to live with his mother. Attending Columbia University, he dropped out his senior year when his first novel “Cover Charge” was published. He continued writing and living with his mother. After she died, he socialized on occasion in Manhattan bars with Mystery Writers of America colleagues and younger fans, but alcoholism, diabetes, and an amputated leg left him a recluse.