Kip wrote:
>Spend an afternoon reading the slim new biography of
MacDonald, THE
>RED HOT TYPEWRITER, and you'll
>come away with the understanding that the man was a
lot less
>compelling than his works. ....He comes across as a
guy who
>approached writing in the same way any business
person approaches
>any other business venture. He didn't seem
particularly inspired;
>he is presented as a craftsman who went to work early
in the
>morning, took a break for lunch, then worked through
the afternoon
>before finishing his day with a gin and tonic. He did
this day
>after day, year after year. He was not much at all
like Travis
>McGee.
Well, no, one was a writer, one was a "salvage consultant."
But as far as I can tell, they shared the same thoughts,
concerns and beliefs. That should count for something.
Aren't most authors (not counting the rather pathetic ones
who pimp their personal tragedies for People Magazine every
time a new book comes out) less compelling than their works?
Certainly the shy, nerdy, bookwormy Chandler was not the
hard-talking, take charge-figure Marlowe was, and by all
accounts, Hammett was not the charming, lovable drunk that
Nick Charles was. I don't think you have to be some
wisecracking, gin-soaked, gun-toting bruiser to write this
stuff (or even read it). After all, there's a lot to be said
for imagination. Really, the old saw about "writing what you
know" is ultimately pretty limiting.
Which means MacDonald probably was inspired -- to imagine and
write about lives and lifestyles he didn't live himself. It's
just that the new bio apparently (I haven't read it, I'm just
basing this on what you guys said) fails to tell us what that
inspiration was. Perhaps it was only the next pay cheque,
perhaps there was no deeper "there" there. In which case, is
it the bio or the life that's disappointing?
I dunno. It's too bad the bio apparently fails to deliver.
I'd have loved to know what made JDM tick. But maybe if we
know the answer, we still won't be satisfied, because it's
not the one we want to hear.
Which is why we should trust the art, not the artist.
Anyway, just my two cents.
--
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
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