Well, it is "formula" fiction. I always imagined that fiction
of this
sort, particularly Gold Medal fiction, reached the audience
it did
because people liked the formula. Hamilton is a strong,
articulate, and
facile writer, but the Helm stories do have a rather rigid
formula.
Having deliberately not written to a formula in my own work,
I can only
imagine that a tried-and-true formula allows one to turn
stories out
quickly, and to a rather rigid publication schedule. Hamilton
and the
others will be frank in telling you that they never conceived
that they
were writing deathless literature, only entertaining
stories.
-- ************************************** Robert E. Skinner, Director Xavier University of Louisiana Library 7325 Palmetto Street New Orleans, LA 70125 (504) 483-7303 (voice) (504) 485-7917 (FAX) e-mail: rskinner@mail.xula.edu ************************************** # # 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/.