I read the Block story "Batman's Helpers" when it was first
published,
re-read it last week, and I still don't know what it's
supposed to be
about. But like all of Block's work, it's certainly
well-written. As is
the Gorman story, which I enjoyed for Ed's stripped-down
style which still
manages to convey a considerable amount of compassion.
Since I joined the list in the middle of the anthology, I
went back and
read the stories I'd missed in the first half (roughly) of
the book. My
favorites from that group were Hammett's "The Scorched Face",
Raoul
Whitfield's "Mistral", Paul Cain's "Trouble-Chaser", Brett
Halliday's
"Human Interest Stuff", and Norbert Davis's "Who Said I Was
Dead?"
Favorites from the second half of the book were Goodis's
"Black Pudding",
Macdonald's "Guilt-Edged Blonde", Hannah's "Junior Jackson's
Parable", and
Ellroy's "Gravy Train". Overall, I think _Hard-Boiled_ is a
very
representative anthology, vividly tracing the evolution of
the hard-boiled
story from plot-driven to character-driven. Over the decades,
the stories
become shorter (on the average) and more mainstream and
literary in tone.
They also become more depressing and not nearly as much fun
in some cases.
One point from the first half of the book that I'd argue
with: in his
introduction to "Human Interest Stuff", Bill Pronzini quotes
Art Scott as
saying, "Mike Shayne is the Generic Private Eye." Well,
Shayne may have
ended up that way, but he certainly didn't start out like
that. The first
half-dozen or so Shayne novels are unlike anything else in
the genre I've
read, a cross between hard-boiled private eye, screwball
comedy, and
fair-play detection. The screwball angle comes from Phyllis
Shayne, Mike
Shayne's beautiful young wife, and their relationship is much
like what
would have happened if Sam Spade had married Pam North (for
those of you
who remember Pam and Jerry North). The books are very well
plotted, and
Shayne even gathers the suspects in the end to explain the
crime and name
the murderer, just like Nero Wolfe or Ellery Queen. However,
Phyllis was
something of a limited character, so Dresser got her out of
town (and off
screen) in a couple of books, then killed her off when he
sold the movie
rights to the series. However, that led to maybe the best
book in the
series, _Blood on the Black Market_, in which all the comedy
angles
disappear and Shayne has to deal with Phyllis's death.
Shayne's
characterization in this book is a definite forerunner to
such characters
as Nameless and Matt Scudder. Of course, after that the
Shayne novels do
tend to become more standard private eye fare, but I think
some of those
early novels are very worth of rediscovery.
James Reasoner
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