pabergin (pabergin@gte.net)
Thu, 12 Aug 1999 21:15:49 -0400
Bill Crider asks:
<<And let me say something right here about Bill
Pronzini: is there anyone who's done more to promote the
mystery? >>
No.
Bill is the sort of tireless defender of an idea -- in his
case, the notion that crime fiction can also be ART -- who in
an earlier time would either have been given the crusaders'
tunic or burned as a heretic. He soldiers on.
Bill and I have shared correspondence for five or so years
now. We met once, briefly, at the Monterey Bouchercon, but
mostly we rifle each other a letter, every six months or so,
mostly full of our respective takes (he is an author; I am a
critic) on what's going on with crime fiction and, by
extension, American literature.
We spend a lot of paper trying to out-grouse each other. So
far, we're about even. The one thing that comes through,
consistently, is that Bill is a guy who keeps the faith -- no
matter how badly the marketplace may have treated him. This
is a guy who turned out one of the masterpieces of 20th
century crime fiction (and YES, it is hardboiled) -- BLUE
LONESOME, then followed it up with one of the most insightful
dissections of small town small-mindedness -- A WASTELAND OF
STRANGERS -- ever written, and still isn't bitter about the
way these books were treated.
Little pissed, maybe, but not bitter. And he should be.
Hammett - Chandler - MacDonald, indeed. Ross Mac was a
one-trick pony. Oughta be Hammett - Chandler - Pronzini. Has
anybody done any more for the mystery than Bill
Pronzini?
No. And, happily, he ain't done yet. PB
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