Mark Blumenthal (blumenidiot@21stcentury.net)
Tue, 28 Dec 1999 13:42:59 -0600
> I have read The Pleasant Grove Murders. I liked it
very much but I
> would not consider it hard boiled.
No, I wdon't think anything he wroe would be called hard
boiled. In science fiction and fantasy, where he is a major
author under the name Jack Vance his appeal is mostly because
of his ornate style of writing, his wit and his characters
and settings. I've seen dictionaries of words he
created.
I realize this is OT, but he is a perfect example of a writer
who does not extend a series too long. He seems to tire of
the characters after two or three books. The real exception
is the series I mentioned earlier, the Demon Princes. He
wrote the first three of what was clearly meant to be a five
volume series in three years. After twelve years he produced
the last two supposedly because of great public demand and
probably entreaties by his publishers.
> I've been looking for Vance's other crime book, The
Fox
> Valley Murders (forgive me it that is not the
correct title). The only
copy
> I saw was a good hardcover with dustjacket for over
$200.
He wrote other mysteries. I have The Deadly Isles under the
John Holbrook Vance name. He also wrote Isle of Peril as Alan
Wade and Take my Face as Peter Held. There may be other
pseudonyms. Even his mysteries in pb are rare and expensive.
Mark
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