Review: The Lessons of Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 23, 2011
Fiction is a fascinating teacher.  Not only will every reader see something different but the same reader on different occasions will glean different messages. Sometimes a reader will even pick up on the ones the writer intended.All I Needed to Know, I Learned from Columbo is a look at fictional detectives throughout the history of the genre and the lessons about life some of them had for us.Each chapter takes a look at a different detective's origins and describes the qualities that made that character unique and entertaining.  After this overview, Adam picks important features of that character's personality and explains their importance in our daily lives.  He uses examples from the shows, stories, and novels to illustrate the point.The character overviews are interesting in their own right.  As much as I enjoy old mysteries, I hadn't heard of some of the detectives he picked for his work.  These introductions helped me understand the later points.Throughout the work, Adam uses a conversational tone that is easy to understand and demonstrates insight into the importance of the lessons to be gained from the way these fictional detectives lived.