Doc Savage Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Marilyn Cannaday

Critical Essay by Marilyn Cannaday

SOURCE: "Lester Dent and Doc Savage: Heroes and Adventurers", in Bigger Than Life: The Creator of Doc Savage, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1990, pp. 85-94.

In the following essay, Cannaday examines affinities between Lester Dent and his fictional hero Doc Savage.

To 'live dangerously' is for them an act of self-indulgence, not loyalty.

Paul Zweig, The Adventurer

Lester Dent and Doc Savage were seekers of adventure, risk-takers whose lives were interwoven. Dent invented imaginative, far-flung adventures for Doc Savage and experienced them vicariously through the writing process; meanwhile, his own travels and exploits enriched the Doc Savage stories. Not one to sit at his desk at home creating fantasies, Dent was an inquisitive explorer, a man of great energy and action who carried his writing with him whether traveling in Europe or sailing his schooner.

Paul Zweig in his book The Adventurer (Princeton...
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