Bengt wrote:
> Let me ask you one more question:
>
> Is James Crumley noir or hard-boiled or both - and why?
At his best (THE LAST GOOD KISS, THE WRONG CASE) he's both.
At his worst, he verges on silly. I forget which one it was
(BORDERSNAKES?) but it just fumbled on a little too long in search of
any real plot. You can only go to the substance-addled quest well so
many times, I guess.
Mind you, Crumley's "worst" still means great characters and great
writing. But sometimes his books just seem to spin their wheels
forever, without ever going anywhere. Which, I guess, might be
intentional. Most of his characters seem to be stuck in their own mud.
Kevin
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