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''Murder at the ABA'' (1976) is a mystery novel by Isaac Asimov, following the adventures of a writer and amateur detective named Darius Just, whom Asimov modeled on his friend Harlan Ellison. While attending a convention of the American Booksellers Association, Just discovers the dead body of a friend and protégé. Convinced that the death was due to murder, but unable to convince the police, Just decides to investigate on his own. The book is an example of metafiction, as Asimov himself appears as a character doing research for a murder mystery set at a booksellers' convention. In 1979 Asimov described ''Murder at the ABA'' as "my favourite book of all two hundred I have written so far."〔Asimov, I. ''Opus 200'' (Dell, 1980) p. 408〕 ''Murder at the ABA'' was published as ''Authorised Murder'' in the United Kingdom. ==Origins== Asimov recounts the unusual history behind ''Murder at the ABA'' in his second autobiographical volume, ''In Joy Still Felt'' (1980). According to Asimov, a book named ''Murder at Frankfurt'' had been written, placing a fictional mystery story at the Frankfurt Book Fair (Germany). His Doubleday editor, Larry Ashmead, proposed that Asimov write a similar book about the American Booksellers Convention. Asimov attended the ABA convention in New York City and absorbed enough "local color" to invent the setting, characters and "gimmick" of his mystery story. Ashmead then informed him that Doubleday needed the book in time for the next year's convention, which meant that Asimov had only three months in which to write it. (The only other novel he had written in such a short time was ''Fantastic Voyage'', which was the novelization of a pre-existing screenplay.) Consequently, the novel is full of odd constructions, such as footnotes where Just and Asimov debate the latter's storytelling style, which Asimov knew critics would pan. He said later that he needed the fun to keep himself working. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Murder at the ABA」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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