Jayms Kane American writer (“The Postman Always Rings Twice”). Date of Birth: 01.07.1892 Country: USA

Biography of James Cain

James Cain was an American writer who was born in 1892 in Annapolis, the capital of Maryland. After finishing school in 1910, Cain worked in various professions such as a teacher, road inspector, singer, and insurance salesman. In 1917, he began working as a correspondent for the newspaper "Baltimore Sun," which was one of the best American newspapers at that time. His career as a journalist was successful, and in 1924 he moved to New York.

In 1931, after the Great Depression, Cain went to Hollywood to work as a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures. His first screenplay, a detective story called "Baby in the Icebox," was quite successful, and Cain embarked on his first novel. It took him six months to complete it. Published in 1934, "The Postman Always Rings Twice" became one of the first commercially successful American books, being a bestseller in hardcover, paperback, adapted for the stage, and made into a film.

Until 1941, Cain worked very successfully in the genre of hard-boiled detective fiction. His novels, short stories, and novellas gained huge popularity among critics and readers. His last work in this genre was the novel "Mildred Pierce" in 1941. After the war, Cain returned to the East Coast with his third wife and continued his writing career, but without much success. He died at the age of 85 from alcoholism in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Cain, along with Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, is considered one of the pioneers of American hard-boiled detective fiction. His best works in this genre are the novel "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and the novella "Double Indemnity." Unlike other masters of hard-boiled detective fiction, Cain did not collaborate with pulp magazines, and his books do not feature private detectives. However, the main elements of his novels are crime, sex, and brutality. The plots of most of his books from the 1930s and 1940s are similar and revolve around the image of a fatal woman: a man encounters a femme fatale who involves him in a crime and ultimately deceives and betrays him. The film adaptations of Cain's noir novels, especially "Double Indemnity," have become classics of the film noir genre.

Cain's post-war works, mainly historical novels, did not enjoy the same popularity among critics and readers. His novels and novellas include:

- "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1934)
- "Double Indemnity" (1936)
- "Serenade" (1937)
- "Mildred Pierce" (1941)
- "The Embezzler" (1944)
- "The Butterfly" (1947)
- "Imitation of Life"