RARA-AVIS: Re: Spillane and misogyny

From: JIM DOHERTY ( jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com)
Date: 09 Jul 2006


Mark,

Re your comments below

"Maybe [my disliking Spillane's books] was because I read them in college that the anti-intellectualism particularly offended the intellectual I was then
(somewhat ostentatiously) trying to become. I like to think I've outgrown at least some of that snobbiness."

Ah. I went to Berkeley, and being an iconclast, I railed against all the intellectualism. Maybe that's why I started to find Spillane appealing at that time.

"And with that mind, maybe I'll try him again. Which Hammer book do you (or anyone else) recommend as his best?"

I would say his best book was ONE LONELY NIGHT. The narrative drive (and Hammer's near-psychopathic rage) is well-sustained throughout. And the noir-ish atmosphere, as Hammer stalks the nocturnal, rain-swept, concrete canyons of Manhattan is very well-done.

Be advised, though, that, aside from I THE JURY, this is the book Spillane's critics find most objectionable. It pits Hammer against the Red Menace
(and the Red Menace hasn't got a chance), whihc, all by itself is enough to get the Cultural Elite's back up. Hammer, convinced he is on a Mission from God, goes after a Soviet spy ring aided and abbetted by home-grown commies. If there's a trace of intellectual snob left in you, this'll be the book that convinces you that you were right about Spillane all along.

On the other hand, it might be the one that convinces you Spillane's a lot more underrated than he deserves to be.

JIM DOHERTY

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