The author of more than 50 books—125 million copies in print—Clive Cussler is the current grandmaster of adventure literature. Dirk Pitt, the sea-loving protagonist of 22 of Cussler’s novels, remains among the most popular and influential adventure series heroes of the past half-century. This first critical review of Cussler’s work features an overview of Pitt and the supporting characters and other heroes, an examination of Cussler’s themes and influences, a review of his most important adventures, such as Raise the Titanic! and Iceberg, and a look at adaptations of his work in other media. Cussler joins the pantheon of such as Rudyard Kipling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Ian Fleming, and this overdue volume demonstrates that beneath Cussler’s immense popularity lies a literary depth that well merits scholarly attention.

Writer Steven Philip Jones lives in North Ogden, Utah.

Steven Philip Jones
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 288
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7896-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1521-9
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments vi

Foreword by Mike Grell 1

Preface: Negative Evidence of Scholarly Production 3

1. Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt 9

2. Cussler’s Characters, Part 1: Dirk Pitt and Family 18

3. Cussler’s Characters, Part 2: The Other Heroes 37

4. Cussler’s Characters, Part 3: Heroines/Other Women and Villains/Villainesses 53

5. Women in Green: Cussler’s Thematic Preoccupations 65

6. Influences from the Golden Age of Pulps, Movies and TV 94

7. Apotheosis: The Hero Reborn 111

8. Cussler’s Evolving Structures and Plots 146

9. Adaptations and Cussleresque Adventures 164

Afterword: A Review of the Review 191

Chapter Notes 195

Bibliography 245

Index 255