>
>Could the high quality of Hammett's pulp stories
have
>anything to do with his sparse production? Sparse
relative
>to writing machines like Erle Stanley Gardner and
Max
>Brand, that is.
I don't think Hammett had a 1.000 batting average. I remeber
a friend of mine, a solid Hammett buff, who many years ago
was so frustrated by Lillian Hellman's refusal to allow many
of Hammetts shorts to be reprinted that he tracked down all
the Spivak digests. "You know, " he told me, "Lillian was
right." And after reading a few stories from NIGHTMARE TOWN,
I have to agree.
>
>
>The real mystery is Fredric Brown, in whom quality
was not
>impaired by quantity.
Brown had his share of turkeys, too. Every try reading the
excreable (and inexplidcably oft-reprinted) ROGUE IN SPACE?
Many of his later novels were comparatively dull, and the
McMillan books are liberally stocked with thrid-rate journey
men efforts, splapdash experiments that didn't work, and
other sub-par stuff of interest only to the hardcore. But
even his worst stories have traces of that unique Brown
touch.
--Scott
Some will say, "Who cares?" or "Why bother?" I pity such
lifeless souls. In an absurd universe, enthusiasm for
meaningless tasks keeps you young at heart.
--Ed McNamara
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