RE: RARA-AVIS: Robert Edmond Alter

Levin, Doug (DLEVIN@DIRECTIMPACT.COM)
Mon, 22 Sep 1997 12:00:33 -0400 >
>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>

I have a copy of _Swamp Sister_. I found it while on vacation, visiting
my family in California. It started great (what a title!), and
continued along real well--great sense of place, if a little over the
top, good set-up--but then I got strangely sick on the trip. Now,
whenever I think about returning to it, waves of nauseau sweep over me
and I get edgy about spending time with my family. Maybe after some
therapy, I can manage to finish the book, and then post about my
impressions of the whole thing.

>Doug Levin
>
>
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