Yeah, I read Blue Lonesome a month or so ago and really liked
it. I
haven't read A Wasteland of Strangers yet, though I picked it
up today
based on Kev's recommendation, so can't compare. Blue
Lonesome does,
however, take place in a small rural town in Nevada, and it's
largely
driven by the residents' ideas and prejudices (not racial,
more personal,
if that makes any sense) about each other and about the main
character,
who's a CPA from San Fransisco. The tone (and, if you will,
the
philosophical underpinnings) reminds me somewhat of the later
Nameless
books, and--while bits of the plot are predictable and there
are points
where the main character does something so obviously stupid
that I wound up
screaming advice at him, just like you do when you watch old
horror
films--it was, overall, very, very compelling.
I also finally got around to reading some of Ellroy: Big
Nowhere, Black
Dahlia, My Dark Places (in that order). I know this has been
discussed to
death here, so I'll just say that I'm still trying to figure
out how I feel
about Ellroy but I keep on reading him. Whatever that says. I
found him
*highly* annoying in MDP, between his attitude about his
mother and his
attitude about using her death as publicity, but I don't
think I could have
not finished the book.
Also picked up one of Block's Scudder books for the first
time, and I was
surprised to find how closely it resembled his Bernie
Rhodenbarr books,
which I love. I think I could have identified the author
based on the
dialogue between Scudder and Elaine, which closely resembles
the dialogue
between Bernie and. . .just about everyone. Obviously, the
Scudder series
is somewhat more serious, but I found myself really liking it
so far.
And, finally, I picked up Spillane's first few novels today.
I have
complained at length about his later novels, and I stand by
all my
kvetching, but I figured I might as well read some of the
early stuff for
the hell of it. No doubt I'll get thoroughly offended by
them, but I will
do my best to keep my offense in historical context. :)
Shutting up now, after an unprecedentedly long post. . .
.
Vicky Esposito-Shea
vmes@sbt.infi.net
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