RARA-AVIS: Re: Ross Thomas/Chinaman's Chance

From: Vince Keenan ( vpkeenan@hotmail.com)
Date: 24 Feb 2005


Bill Denton wrote:

>You think (THE FOOLS IN TOWN ARE ON OUR SIDE) is his masterpiece? I liked
>it, but I'm reading BRIARPATCH right now, and I think it's far better. I
>can back myself up and make a cheap appeal to authority by saying that
>Roger L. Simon, in that PDF I mentioned, said THE FOOLS IN TOWN was a
>warm-up for BRIARPATCH and not as good. If you've read BRIARPATCH, how
>would you compare them?

I read that Simon quote and had the strange feeling it would come back to haunt me.

When you're talking about Thomas' best novels - and BRIARPATCH is easily among them - it's like splitting hairs. For me, the richness of Lucifer Dye's character in FOOLS, aided by the immediacy of the first person, makes it first among equals.

It's been a long time since I read BRIARPATCH, though. Maybe if I revisited it I'd sing a different tune.

Vince

www.vincekeenan.com Pop culture, high and low, past and present. One day at a time.

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