Two recommendable pieces on Woolrich:
Indiana, Gary -- "Man in the Shadows." Voice Literary
Supplement 74 (May 1989): pp. 26-27
[a review of the Nevins biography]
*
Reid, David, and Jayne L. Walker -- "Strange Pursuit: Cornell
Woolrich and the Abandoned City of the Forties."
in "Shades of Noir: A Reader" (editor: Joan Copjec; London
Verso, 1993): pp. 57-96
[a critical nthology devoted to Film Noir.]
*
Both pieces are good. Even if I didn't like Indiana, though
-- which I do -- I would be grateful for his VLS piece, since
it represents a gay author (Indiana) dealing with attitudes
toward Woolrich's sexuality and how this affects critical
response to Woolrich (notably that of Nevins).
Chris
-----Original Message----- From:
Moorich2@aol.com Sent: Dec 13, 2003 6:46 AM To:
rara-avis@icomm.ca Subject: RARA-AVIS: Woolrich
In a message dated 12/12/03 9:50:08 PM Eastern Standard Time,
owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca writes:
<<
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 08:59:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Mario Taboada <
matrxtech@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Trying Something By
Woolrich
Woolrich is more than a writer who had his day way
back
when. He is one of the best suspense writers of all
time.
Miker, he will have you biting your nails, thus
providing
you with a personal grooming bonus with your
purchase.
I have my preferences, but they don't matter when I
pick up
a Woolrich story or novel. I get my nails done no
matter
which title I pick.
>>
I agree with Woolrich being one of the best of all time but
he did turn out some IMHO pretty bad novels. At his worst, he
can be pretty bad. When I went through my late Uncle Buren's
books (he who thought Edgar Wallace was the best who ever put
pen to paper), I was excited to discover a copy of
STRANGLER'S SERENADE (1951) the last (I think) novel under
the William Irish byline. It was so bad I had trouble
finishing it. While I won't say this rule is foolproof, it is
not a good sign if a novel has been passed over by all the
various Woolrich revivals.
One other Woolrich note, I last quoted William DeAndrea's
ENCYCLOPEDIA MYSTERIOSA with the nifty "we think" adding a
bit of a question mark to one of the most quoted of Woolrich
biographical details. I just read a couple of lines further
and DeAndrea elaborates: "He fabricated incidents, falsified
dates and details, and obfuscated everything else. Even after
a long and masterful biography by Francis M. Nevins, Jr.,
CORNELL WOOLRICH: FIRST YOU DREAM, THEN YOU DIE (1988), basic
facts of the man's life are still debated."
One other Woolrich thought, there are people with opinions I
respect who do not see the magic in Woolrich.
Richard Moore
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