RARA-AVIS: The Whole Enchilada and a few things on the side...

Kevin Smith (kvnsmith@colba.net)
Wed, 24 Jun 1998 09:46:53 -0500 >gee, I guess that question was too easy for this group. but do any of you
>hardboiled gentiles know where the expression "The Whole Enchilada" might have
>originated?

Taco Bell?

Well, L.A. Morse wrote a P.I. novel called The Big Enchilada way back in
'82. In the little author's note at the beginning he states that "This is a
work of fiction, but, then, so is Los Angeles...

One last thought on Michael Stone's A Long Reach. What a sigh of relief at
the end. After all, a mime is a terrible thing to waste...(sorry)

Just finished Bill Pronzini's A Wasteland of Strangers (1997). Amazing,
non-P.I. book. Not sure if it's hardboiled or not, or even if it's truly a
crime novel, although its view of smalltown prejudice is certainly harsh,
and crime certainly figures prominently...anyway, anyone on this list will
probably like it. It's about a stranger who wanders into the wrong small
town, a sort of noirish mix of Shane and Peyton Place. The whole time I was
reading it, I kept envisioning it as a sort of hand-held camera, black and
white, claustrophobic pseudo-documentary film, unsettling, yet unable to
ignore. Is it me, or was this a great book?

The edition I have mentions another Pronzini non-series book called Blue
Lonesome, put out by the same publisher (and possibly similiar in tone).
Anyone read that one? Pronzini has written tons of non-Nameless books, but
I've never heard of Blue Lonesome. Anyone?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Smith
The Thrilling Detective Web Site
http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/

No Business For a Lady? Women Detectives in this month's P.I. Poll!
There's still some time to vote!

#
# To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca.
# The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.