> I'm reading Chandler's _The Big Sleep_. I realize
most of you are long time
> fans, but I'm rather new to Hard-boiled fiction. You
may laugh at how I got
> into it, but I'd like to share the story because I
think it shows how the
> Hard-boiled genre affects other genres. I just
subscribed to this list
> recently and I think it's an interesting
story.
>
> A few years ago, I was an active comic book
collector, and one of my
> favorite titles was the now-defunct _Firearm_,
written by James Robinson
> (currently writer of DC Comics' _Starman_ series).
Robinson is an
> extraordinary writer, bringing wonderful
characterization in places you
> might not normally see it.
>
> Firearm was a comic about a PI in Pasadena, CA. He
has the typical "super
> secret agent" background. He's a former British
Special Boat Service member
> and also was in a fictional British spy agency called
the Lodge. However,
> what led him to be a PI was his love for Chandler,
Hammett, etc. He's a
> voracious reader, and Robinson obviously has a love
for the hard-boiled
> genre as well...he quotes the books regularly and
Firearm often waxes
> nostalgic about how the Los Angeles of Chandler is
not the Los Angeles he
> knows. But he still catches little glimpses of it
here and there.
>
I'm a big Chandler fan....some years ago after reading my
first
Chandler, (I believe it was the Long Goodbye) I read
everything of
his I could get my hands on. To this day I think he is the
best at
descriptive writing of anyone I have ever read.
I grew up in Pasadena. Do these stories feature areas
of
Pasadena the same way that Chandler used locales of LA and
So
Cal?
Sincerely,
Bill Holmes
Give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to
accept the things I cannot,
and a great big bag of money.
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