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Re: RARA-AVIS: Locale
AnnyMiddon@aol.com wrote:
>I've been thinking about common elements in hardboiled fiction, and found
>myself wondering whether an urban environment is a requirement of the genre.
>My definition of "urban" would include some suburban locales; it seems to
me
>that suburbs of older cities are often more urban than the heart of newer
>cities.
>But what about small towns, farming communities, backcountry? To be sure, a
>place like the desert outside Las Vegas is a good spot to get rid of a body
>or hold a "questioning" session without worry about interruptions. But can
a
>hardboiled novel take place entirely in a nonurban setting?
>I couldn't think of any examples where it has, but admittedly I'm not that
>well-read in the genre.
Interesting to note that Daniel Woodrell's new book Give Us a Kiss is
subtitled "A Country Noir".
It does not fit the classic definition of noir, in that there is no
detective/PI involved but does have the "loner" hero "rescuing" a situation
in his family's old stomping grounds in backwoods Arkansas/Missouri (I
forget).
The subtitle feels like a marketing "trick" (It made me pick up the book) but
the book itself is well written.
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