"Georges Simenon is the creator of the unforgettable character Inspector Maigret, the Parisian police detective who was the central figure in more than a hundred of Simenon's novels, as well as in countless movies and television adaptations.

In fact, Simenon is without doubt the most widely published French writer of the twentieth century, and the literary merits of his work have been often obscured by the sheer size of his output: 190 potboilers signed with 17 pseudonyms, 358 novels and short stories signed Simenon, 25 autobiographical works, 30 series of articles published in the French press before and immediately after World War II, and a ballet scenario.

Becker devotes serious critical consideration to Simenon's "roman durs," the "hard (problem) novels" that are characterized by an extraordinary blend of narrative skill and psychological insight, and discusses how he effected a transformation of the detective novel genre."--BOOK JACKET. "A thoughtful, knowledgeable, and highly readable book, Georges Simenon Revisited will be a valuable resource for both scholars and students."--BOOK JACKET.