As for your comments on The Burglar, Mario, the Goodis books
I've read
(9 or 10), seem to fall pretty easily into two categories,
the books
which just follow a guy on the run and those that are more
heavily
plotted. Ironically, it is the plotted ones I have the more
trouble
with. I mean, the plot of Dark Passage is absolutely
ridiculous. If
Chandler believed you send in a guy with a gun whenever the
plot lags,
Goodis believed, when your fugitive has nowhere to go, send
in a savior.
I mean, getting into a cab in the middle of the night, just
to have the
cabbie say, Hey, I know you, you're that wife-killer. Well, I
ever
believed you did it and, not only that, I happen to know a
plastic
surgeon who can help you. Give me a break.
I can't believe I continued on with Goodis after that. But
I'm glad I
did. The books that are more character-driven, just
chronicling a man's
fall can be quite great. My favorite is Street of No Return
(which was
made into an absolutely terrible Samuel Fuller film). This is
closely
followed by Down There (Shoot the Piano Player), Cassidy's
Girl and
Blonde on the Street Corner. Each is the story of a down and
out guy
who, for one brief moment, thinks he can regain his former,
more
respectable life, usually with a slight, frail girl by his
side, only to
later submt to his fate, usually with a very buxom drunk
woman.
Burglar was somewhere in betwen. I also like the early part,
but
believe it fell apart when they reach the beach town.
Mark
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