Dear Rara-Avians -- I'm sort of in the state of mind that
Hoke Mosley was in during SIDESWIPE. I really want to
simplify my life. I'm not quite sure I'm ready to buy
matching jumpsuits just yet, but I am ready to reduce the
number of e-mails I get daily. So I'm going to take some
steps to do that this week. One of the plugs I'm going to
pull this weekend is rara-avis. In the three years or so I've
been hanging around this list, I've picked up some good bits
of knowledge. Thanks to those of you who have provided
them.
One final bit of sharing from me: I read two pretty bad books
over the holidays that nonetheless might be of interest to
the more hard-core among you. GET DUTCH is a new biography of
Elmore Leonard that fails in many ways, not the least of
which is the way the author, Paul Challen, asserts his ego
throughout. It's not particularly well written. However, it
does contain some interesting material about the relationship
between Leonard and his Hollywood agent, who seems to have a
great influence over how Leonard edits his books before he
submits them -- a much greater influence than his literary
agent. So there is some good stuff about how Leonard writes
his books
While driving through the ice of North Texas, I stopped in at
my favorite used bookstore, Recycled Books in Denton (a place
well worth visiting if you're in the Dallas/Fort Worth area).
Among the books I picked up there was one many of you
probably already are familiar with: QUENTIN TARANTINO:
SHOOTING FROM THE HIP (which I believe is going to be
reissued soon, but I may be wrong about that). Again, I have
a hard time recommending it: It's not very well written
either. However, I did glean some points of interest from it.
For instance, I learned that QT was a serious reader of
Willeford, learning from The Boss how to manage time and
structure. Of course there was a lot of material about the
influence of Leonard's books on QT. I also found out that one
of QT's favorite novels is also a favorite of mine, Larry
McMurtry's ALL MY FRIENDS ARE GOING TO BE STRANGERS
-- strange to think of McMurtry as an influence on QT.
Finally I learned that QT kept a copy of Leigh Brackett's NO
GOOD FROM A CORPSE handy while he was writing PULP FICTION;
hard to think of a better source of inspiration.
So: See you around the corner's office. Adios....Kip
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