I've got a question for those of you who are more familiar
with older PIs. How ubiquitous was California as location in
the early days of PIs? Was it always a preferrred setting of
hardboiled or does Chander's shadow just loom so large it now
feels that way?
And if California, and LA in particular, is the preferred
setting for noir (along with NY), why? Is it simply because
the movie industry drew so many writers? (If so, were they
writing about LA or their native cities before they moved out
there?) Or is there something about California that
made/makes it a good setting? The transient, no one is a
native, population? The anyone can reinvent themselves, just
like they do in the moving pictures mindset? The wide-open,
wild west nature of the city? The corruption, as seen in the
water and public transportation manipulations? Or is it the
physical aspect?
I think of California as sunny, noir as dark, but I still
think of LA as the natural city for a PI. California is also
stereotyped as full of wackos; could the PI be the last sane
man in an unraveling, crazy state?
Mark
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