James Stephenson suggested I sign up for the hardboiled list
and share some
information I've stumbled on to related to K.C. Constantine.
What follows
is the text of an e-mail I sent to James:
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Your e-mail about Constantine was forwarded to me. I agree
wholeheartedly
with what you say.
Here's something interesting, however, and this may be why
there's the
confusion about Crumley. As you probably know, in an
interview I believe
first published by Dennis McMillan in the volume WHORES,
Crumley said he
considered Constantine to be the best mystery/crime writer
going these
days. What Crumley didn't add is that he most probably knew
the real
identity of Constantine. Why? Apparently the author behind
the
Constantine pseudonym (and I believe Carl Kosak is the
correct name)
studied at the University of Iowa in the writers program
during the 1960s.
Crumley studied there at about that time, as did Jon A.
Jackson, et al. I
think, during this period, these guys would have come into
contact with
Raymond Carver, Richard Hugo, and John Cheever, who all
taught there (see
Jackson's short memoir, RIDING WITH RAY -- I believe that's
the title). If
they all came out of Iowa when it was at its prime as a
writing school,
that would explain similarities in style, etc.
I never believed the Updike rumor because, frankly, I think
Constantine is
the superior writer, just as I think Charles Willeford
(America's answer to
Kafka) was a better writer than Saul Bellow. But that's a
whole other
argument...
Ultimately, it doesn't matter who Constantine is; it's the
work that
matters. Just as it doesn't matter if William Shakespeare
wrote the plays
or if it was, as I believe Mark Twain intimated, some other
guy with the
same name. I've read thirteen of Constantine's novels now and
I'm
astonished at how good they are.
My opinions, at any rate.
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Since I wrote that, I've been in contact with Dennis
McMillan, who says
he's going to ask Crumley about the possibility that Kosak
was at Iowa in
the 1960s. I'll let you know what I find out.
Kip Stratton
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