RARA-AVIS: Robert Edmond Alter

Bill Hagen (billha@ionet.net)
Sun, 21 Sep 1997 01:21:19 -0500 (CDT) James Reasoner wrote,
>
>My favorite story in the Black Lizard anthology is the one by Robert Edmond
>Alter (can't remember the title and don't have a copy of the book handy).
>I haven't read anything else by Alter, but this story, about a man trapped
>in a basement with a venomous snake, is a white-knuckler.

I recently read Alter's _Carney Kill_, a 1986 Black Lizard pub., and would
recommend it for its unusual setting in a seedy Florida amusement park.
Although the plot is not particularly memorable, Alter is excellent with
characterization and scenics. I've not read that much on the lives and
codes of carny people, but it seemed to me that he was slicing from life
(or from thorough research).

According to the short bio in the back of the novel, Alter mainly wrote
children's books. Two other adult books are listed: _Swamp Sister_, also a
Black Lizard, and _The Red Fathom_. Perhaps others have more info and
reactions to his fiction.

Bill Hagen
<billha@ionet.net>

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