Actually, James Ellroy was most lavish in his praise of Ross
Macdonald mentioning him as a key influence way back in the
early 80s. As I've related here before, Ellroy was on a panel
with William Campbell Gault at the New York Bouchercon in
1982 or 83. Ellroy was not the big name he later became but
made a splash with his comments and with his apparel--wearing
golf knickers to this particular panel.
At some point, Ellroy dramatically called for quiet as he
reverentially read a passage from an author not yet
identified. It seemed a bad passage to me at the time as it
was quite ornate and of the "look ma, I'm writing"
variety.
There was silence when Ellroy finished which Gault broke with
a growled "Who wrote that?"
Ellroy very dramatically said "Ross Macdonald!"
Gault immediately replied, "He shouldn't have."
The packed audience roared with laughter. I don't know that I
have ever heard such an explosion of laughter in a Bouchercon
before or since.
Richard Moore
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Duane Spurlock
<duane1spur@y...> wrote:
>
> I agree that Crumley is excellent and influential. I
guess I see
Sallis is following the more understated form or style of the
tradition, which MacDonald represents to some degree. There's
violence, yes, but its presentation is ... something I can't
quite describe (need more caffiene) -- not dwelled upon, I
guess.
>
> S
> P
> O
> I
> L
> E
> R
>
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> Take the scene at the end of THE CHILL (I think
that's the one),
in which the mother kills herself with the knitting needles.
If you think about it, that's pretty gruesome. But MacDonald
handles it in such a way that I actually had to read the
passage more than once to make sure what happened. In
MacDonald, violence was usually quick
(or off-stage), and he focused his details on events and
revelations that occurred after the violent event, the
results of the violence. I see something similar in Sallis'
work.
>
> Crumley is no shrinking violet in the influence
department. His
work shows violence, it's still literary, but I see his
influence more on the outright crime novel -- on guys like
Ellroy and Bruen. Again, this is my off-the-cuff,
gut-feeling-this-morning postulation, not a declaration. I
may well be far off base. And I enjoy reading what the rest
of you think about these things. Helps me to clarify my own
thoughts.
> - Duane
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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> Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile
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