>From:
Moorich2@aol.com
>They sense this guy knows what he is talking
about--both the
>music and the scene. It is something that can't be
faked.
This is probably what I like best about Pelecanos: his books
brim with authenticity. I don't know if he's been through
even one tenth as much as his characters, but he always gives
the impression he knows what he's talking about. To use his
own phrase, he knows what time it is.
The best book to see this in is DOWN BY THE RIVER WHERE THE
DEAD MEN GO, where he leads a neophyte private eye (whose
name I can't remember) around DC; the narrator, Nick
Stefanos, handles all the situations they get into, where the
other character can't relate to some of the people they deal
with, and thus couldn't get the results that Stefanos
can.
I thought Pelecanos' "be a man" theme was also brought out
most explicitly in this book, especially when he has a
conversation with a young man who is the father of the baby
of the sister of the boy who Stefanos is looking for.
I won't spoil it, but I think it gives a lot of
insight into what Pelecanos thinks makes a man a man, and
finds echoes in most of his other books (especially THE BIG
BLOWDOWN).
Graham
------------ http://www.BleekerBooks.com
Hardboiled and Noir
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