<<I am convinced that Adams did everything he could to
make him as unsympathetic and unlikable as possible. It is
too far over the line to be an accident. Cringe? Let me quote
an oft-quoted line from McBride: "What this country goddamned
well needs is a Gestapo.">>
It's hard to imagine the mindset of the (evidently male)
readers of Cleve Adams's novels, but there's no question that
he was popular. What that tells me is that lots of guys in
this country a) liked McBride and b) agreed with him
(about the need for a Gestapo and similar institutions). So
what we see as a deliberately unlikable protagonist may have
been in fact an extreme case of playing to the gallery. It's
not a gallery I would like to frequent.
By the way, I don't think Cleve Adams has been written about
much. His extreme paranoia and fascistic attitudes would make
a nice topic for a thesis, maybe in a double-barrelled study
that also includes Spillane.
Regards,
Mario
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