>This is really a discussion about good writing and
poor writing. If >it
>comes off as a narrative stopping polemic, it's bad
writing, ><snip>The
>politics and social commentary in all of the writing
of George Pelecanos,
>and George Higgins and Walter Mosely and Manuel
>Ramos (and in Dennis
>Lehane's "A Drink Before The War") is woven
>through the story because it
>is part of the story. Some folks never >even
notice that it is there.
>Jim Blue
Lehane is one of my favorites, but I do think "A Drink before
the War" is a classic example of polemic overwhelming story.
I enjoy the hell out of that book, but there's plenty of
social-commentary digression that's clearly the author rather
than the character speaking. Contrast "Mystic River," where
he gets in his views on gentrification and child abuse and
and white-boy rap but frames them in terms of character and
story.
By the way, I saw that football-themed Penzler anthology that
Baldacci sued over in the store the other day. I guess they
settled it either by giving DB more money or making his name
smaller on the cover. It's called "The Mighty Johns" (am I
the only one who thinks that sounds like gay porn? I've got
nothing particular against gay porn, I just don't know that
that's what they were going for -) It's got stories by Block
("The Ehrengraf Reverse"), Crumley ("Semi-Pro"), and Lehane
("Gone down to Corpus"), among others
(including some seemingly weird choices like Peter Robinson -
is it Canadian football? - and Anne Perry - Victorian
football?). I don't know if they're all new or not, but I
noticed it because Lehane hasn't published many shorts that I
know of. Anybody seen this book and can comment on the
quality?
carrie
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