RARA-AVIS: HB New Haven

pabergin (pabergin@gte.net)
Fri, 16 Apr 1999 16:53:05 -0400 I'd never given it a lot of thought before, but New Haven probably would
make a good setting for a HB yarn. It's certainly distinctive enough
visually, the failure of the Model Cities program has resulted in some of
the most soul-destroying pockets of poverty existing cheek by jowl with such
bastions of privelege as Yale, St Ronan Terrace and Prospect Hill (lotsa
potential conflict there). And NH's crime statistics certainly belie its
small-town status. Might work.

A few years ago, a NEW YORKER reporter did a two-part piece on The Mudhole,
a vacant lot in the Newhallville section that was -- maybe still is -- one
of the city's more notorious drug corners. It's been awhile and I've
forgotten both the title and the author, but a web search might bring it up.
I recall thinking at the time that it was very well-written.

Finally, on a related issue, anyone wanting to see a good noirish take on
Hartford, CT, shd pick up Ridley Pearson's CHAIN OF EVIDENCE. It's basically
a police procedural with some techno stuff thrown in for good measure, but
the author's ability to convey the FEEL of Hartford (particularly after
dark, when the town becomes an Edward Hopper canvas) is astounding. Hell of
a job.
PB

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