The Silence of the Lambs: Critical Essays on a Cannibal, Clarice, and a Nice Chianti brings together scholarship from across the disciplines to examine not only themes commonly associated with the film-such as gender, cannibalism, and psychopathy-but also unexpected themes such as the film's use of humor, language, and forensic science, as well as issues of Orientalism and classism. Each of the essays offers a new perspective on a film that both audiences and scholars relate to as a cultural touchstone. In addition, chapters on critical historiography, the film's role in popular culture, genre evolution, as well as its critical reception, offer contemporary readers a "big picture" perspective on the film.