Arthur Asa Berger

Arthur Asa Berger (born 1933, Boston) - an American social scientist and professor emeritus of media and popular culture. He has authored over 70 books and 130 articles covering media analysis, popular culture, humor, and tourism. Notable works include Media Analysis Techniques and Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture. Has written extensively on Jewish humour as a tool for dealing with collective trauma (such as the Holocaust) and marginality, arguing that Jewish self-criticism in jokes is often liberating rather than masochistic.

Berger has explicitly integrated Jewish themes into his “educational murder mysteries,” most notably in The Kabbalah Killings (2004). This book is part of a series featuring Detective Solomon Hunter, designed to teach academic theories through fiction. The novel serves as a “murder mystery introduction to Jewish mysticism”. The plot centers on the murder of Azriel Moshe, a scholar of the Kabbalah, who leaves a cryptic symbol in blood as a clue. To solve the case, Detective Hunter must learn about the fundamentals of the Zohar and Jewish mystical traditions; and about Jewish hidden symbolism and interdisciplinary scholarship on Jewish texts.

Postmortem for a Postmodernist: While primarily focused on postmodern theory, this mystery includes a character named Shoshana TelAviv, the wife of the murder victim. Her name and identity contribute to the book’s exploration of cultural theory and identity within a fictional framework.

Detective Solomon Hunter of the San Francisco Police Department: The recurring protagonist of these mysteries—including Mistake in Identity and The Mass Comm Murders—is often used as a vehicle to explore various cultural and sociological lenses, including race, identity, and ethnic heritage.  Hunter is portrayed with strong Jewish cultural and intellectual ties, which is a central element of his identity and his investigative approach. [Google/AI]

Berger, Arthur Asa, [Solomon Hunter #1] (Postmortem for a Postmodernist) [hc, AltaMira Press, 1997] 978-0761989103 (pb, AltaMira Press, 1997) 978-0761989110

Berger, Arthur Asa, [Solomon Hunter #2] (The Mass Comm Murders: Five Media Theorists Self-Destruct) [hc, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002] 978-0742517202 [pb, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002] 978-0742517219

Berger, Arthur Asa, [Solomon Hunter #3] (The Kabbalah Killings (A Solomon Hunter Educational Murder Mystery [pb, PulpLit, 2004]) 978-0974619620

Berger, Arthur Asa, [Solomon Hunter #4] (Mistake in Identity) [hc, AltaMira Press, 2005] 978-0759108646 [pb, AltaMira Press, 2005] 978-0759108653