Al, you could be right, maybe it was because we had outfits like Gold Medal publishing so much of it in paperback.
--Dave
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Allan Guthrie" <allan@...> wrote:
>
> Do you really think that much has changed, though, Dave? I don't recall any
> large NY houses publishing Jim Thompson's great noir books back in the 50s
> either. And James Cain had trouble getting published for most of his career.
> So much so that several of his novels have never been published. Cain based
> Double Indemnity on a real life case, which seems to make noir more
> accessible to the general public (David Peace and Megan Abbott spring
> immediately to mind).
>
> Al
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "davezeltserman" <Dave.Zeltserman@...>
> To: <rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 2:09 PM
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Small Crimes
>
>
> > RJR, I'd say this is true for almost all editors. How much true noir is
> > being published by the large NY houses, not only today but over the last
> > 25 years? Do you think any of the NY houses would now publish books like
> > "Double Indemity" or "Dead City" by Shane Stevens, or any of Jim
> > Thompson's great noir books? I don't want this to sound like I'm putting
> > down Robert Parker, because that is not my intention, but I think part of
> > the legacy of the massive success that his Spenser books has had over the
> > last 25 years is not only do protagonists of crime novels have to be
> > likable, but they had to be fuckable (or at least cuddable). I mean, how
> > likable was the protagonist of "Double Indemnity", Walter Huff? The guy
> > was a heartless sonofabitch, but the book was still one of the most
> > fascinating and gripping crime novels I've ever read, and I can't imagine
> > a single NY editor touching it today if it came in as a new manuscript
> > from a new writer (maybe if it came in from established bestselling writer
> > it might be able to be published).
> >
> > --Dave
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 11 Mar 2010 EST