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RARA-AVIS: _Hardboiled America_ and writer biographies 

On Tue, 20 May 1997, Richard L. King wrote:

: Well, I finally called the publisher, Da Capo, and was told that
: yes, it is the same book with a different title. So, for those of
: you who own it already, don't buy it (like I was about to do). It is
: the same thing (and I'm glad it is being republished, I just don't
: know why they had to change the title).

I bought _Savage Art_, Robert Polito's bio of Jim Thompson, the other
day, and am reading it now.  It's full of information about him, with
interviews with relatives and friends, a great deal of historial
research, lengthy quotes from his autobiographical books, and
pictures.  Thompson had a hell of a life, at least early on (he just
graduated from high school, and he's already been rich, bankrupt,
tubercular, alcoholic, and hospitalized), and I shudder to think
what's coming up.

Then I got to flipping through _Hardboiled America_, and O'Brien
summarizes what little was known at the time about Thompson's life in
two pararaphs, saying there's a great deal to be done on the subject.
It struck me that the Thompson revival was pretty big, for him to go
from having little public history to being the subject of an
award-winning (and thick) biography.

It also got me wondering who, among all the hardboiled writers we talk
about, had the most interesting life.  (Or perhaps just early life).
Thompson's was something I'd never want to live; Charles Willeford
ended up living with his grandmother, then ran away during the
Depression and bummed around for a couple of years before joining the
army, getting stationed in the Phillipines, and ending up with a
Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.  John D. MacDonald got an MBA or
something, but during the war worked for the OSS (the forerunner of
the CIA) in southeast Asia.  I can't remember a lot of details about
Hammett's early life, but his days as a Pinkerton op are well known.
They all seem to have had damned exciting lives, but I wonder if
there's one who stands out over the others, or if one had a
particularly boring life.  

Bill
-- 
William Denton : Toronto, Canada : buff@vex.net : Caveat lector.
http://www.vex.net/~buff/        <-- Anything on io.org is toast.

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