Mario Taboada <
matrxtech@yahoo.com> wrote:
<< Bill Crider:
<<This has been a mystery to me for years. I can't
understand why Williams isn't more highly regarded. Didn't
John D. MacDonald say something like, "he was the best of us
at Gold Medal" or words to that effect?>>
I don't think a writer like Williams, who is neither flashy
nor weird, has much of a chance of rediscovery by today's
public. I find his best novels unforgettable, deep, very
carefully developed, with big crescendos of well-prepared
action. I don't think MacDonald was wrong, though there were
many good writers at Gold Medal.
The more relevant question may be: Are *any* Gold Medal
writers remembered today?
>>
Only among those who appreciate them, I'd say. McDonald is
the closest to being remembered outside the narrower confines
of HB readers, probably, because of the number of titles he
wrote (both in and out of the TMc series), the fact that they
were accepted by the mainstream media (he had hardcover
publications, remember, and someone like Kurt Vonnegut or
such gave him a commendable review in the NYTimes or some
similar organ), and his publishers made a concerted effort to
keep him in print once his name hit the big time. (Perhaps
Elmore Leonard is our closest current analogous HB
writer.)
Next closest to be remembered might be Donald Hamilton? He
had wide exposure because of the Matt Helm movies, but I
don't think he ever made it big into the hardcover and
mainstream critical channels.
Vague sidetrack here..I was reading a Sam Durrell adventure
at lunch in a cafeteria-style restuarant one day, and an
older gentlemen walked by and said, "Hey! Old Sam Durrell! I
used to love those books! I haven't read one in years." I
directed him to the used book shop that I frequented that
normally stocked lots of GM series. (Since then,
unfortunately, the lady who ran the shop sold it to a couple
who continually exhibit a lack of knowledge of pop-culture
reading, and they've ditched nearly all the GM stock,
hardboiled and westerns. They're a couple of boobs.)
But old GMs haven't been too hard to find around here,
because Fawcett had a printing plant here once upon a time. A
curmudgeonly fellow who happens to own another used book
store here told me that when he was in high school, the dad
of one of his buddies worked at the printing plant. His buddy
frequently brought batches of GMs to school and shared with
his pals.
Ah.
Charles Willams, to return to topic, probably will fare less
well in the rememberance and rediscovery category because (1)
he didn't write a series, unlike McDonald and Hamilton, (2)
his books aren't over-the-top psychological ravages like Jim
THompson's tales, and (3) the mainstream critical media never
noted Williams at all, even though he did break into the
hardcover market. Meanwhile, I've yet to pick up and read a
Williams that I didn't enjoy and that wasn't excellently
written.
A question: Did Williams ever write for the pulps, or was he
strictly a novel writer?
<< The other day my wife reminded me that all those
yellow(ed) paperbacks that I cherish *are last-century
stuff*. How's that for a well-prepared spousal stabbing?
Needless to say, a dead calm followed. I had it coming for
suggesting that certain shelves be cleared of Anais Nin,
Simone de Beauvoir and, first of all and Salvation
Army-bound, Lillian Hellman's books of memoirs. Hellman
stays, the Gold Medals stay. I never thought I would owe
anything to Hell Lilly.
>>
Brr. Lillian Hellman. Well, if that's what you gotta do to
keep your GMs around, you gotta do what you gotta do.
-- Duane
-- # To unsubscribe from the regular list, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to # majordomo@icomm.ca. This will not work for the digest version. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 18 Apr 2001 EDT