--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Zeltserman"
<dz@...> wrote:
>
> Mr T, I'm shocked, shocked to find swearing going on
in here!
>
> BUT--go into any bookstore today and
> you'll find plenty of examples of formulaic,
conventional mysteries
> and thrillers that are pure genre. I'll go
further--more and more
> today the larger NY houses are unwilling to publish
"crime novels"
> that aren't formulaic and conventional, while these
same restraints
> aren't put on "literary" fiction.
But even if a mystery follows a traditional style, say a PI
mystery or a manor mystery with lacy old ladies and frowning
inspectors, that's no impediment for it to be a great book.
In other words, the formula is not a deterrent for quality.
Look at PI writers. Chandler followed a formula and wrote
great stuff. You could have said back then that the formula
was worn out (in fact, Chandler knew that it was a formula),
but it didn't deter Chandler or any of the great PI writers
who came after him.
>There's a reason why the readers on
> this group tend to gravitate towards presses like
Hard Case Crime,
> Serpent's Tail, No Exit Press, Bitter Lemmon, Bleak
House, etc.--
> because these are the houses that are more willing
to publish these
> crime novels that color outside the lines (and thank
god for these
> houses--both as a reader and as a
writer!!!).
>
I agree. People here seem to like something different, and so
do I. But I can't rule out because it's framed within a
traditional form. Otherwise, we would have to rule out folk
music, in fact most music.
Best,
mrt
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