Anent all the discussions of Chandler, Hammett. Macdonald, et
al, and their
'lasting' influence, a mildly dissenting view:
>Though I don't expect to be around in another 100
years, it would be
>interesting to see which American crime writers of
our time are considered
>giants of their art in 2103. Because this field only
took root in the
>early 20th century, the mantle of "greatness" has
barely been extended
>beyond the holy triumvirate of Dashiell Hammett,
Raymond Chandler and Ross
>Macdonald.
> But what about Bill Pronzini, the veteran California
writer whose
> 28th Nameless Detective novel, SPOOK (Carroll &
Graf), is out this month?
> The same sort of thing that can be said about Edward
Kennedy (that during
> his 40 years in the U.S. Senate, he's had a greater
effect on American
> society than either of his more famous, but
shorter-lived brothers) might
> well be said of Pronzini: that with his Nameless
series, he's turned out
> a much more substantial body of heralded work than
what was produced by
> Hammett (who published five novels), Chandler (who
published seven) or
> even Macdonald (with 24 novels, 18 of which featured
P.I. Lew Archer).
> Yes, some of his early books -- including the first
Nameless outing, THE
> SNATCH (1971) -- were fairly workmanlike and
derivative. But the almost
> 60-year-old Pronzini has matured over the years, and
allowed his San
> Francisco sleuth (who's only ever been identified
vaguely as "Bill" in
> the books) to change with him. This evolution has
often been precipitated
> by personal crises, such as Nameless' cancer scare
in BLOWBACK (1977) --
> which finally led him to rethink his life and to
marry in 1995's HARDCASE
> -- but that doesn't make them any less important. Or
extraordinary, for
> that matter. By contrast, Robert B. Parker's Boston
P.I., Spenser, has
> been dating/living with his girlfriend, Susan
Silverman, since GOD SAVE
> THE CHILD (1974), yet their relationship has barely
progressed beyond
> acquiring a dog together. And while Spenser has
hardly aged over three
> decades, Nameless has stayed fairly current with his
creator,
> experiencing a range of health problems and shifts
of perspective that
> seem unavailable to Parker's consistently tough
gumshoe.
[...much more]
excerpted from the Latest issue of:
>* * *
>"The Rap Sheet" is written exclusively for January
Magazine by crime
>fiction editor J. Kingston Pierce.
>To read previous editions of "The Rap Sheet," go
to:
>
http://www.januarymagazine.com/crfiction/rapsheet.html
>If you'd like to subscribe to "The Rap Sheet," go
to:
>http://www.januarymagazine.com/subscribe.html
...which is highly recommended to anyone interested in
mystery/crime fiction.
I'm one of those weird ones who only reads a 'series' when he
can start from the beginning, so while I _have_ read _all_
the readily available Chandler, Hammett & Macdonald
canons (and, yes, every one of the 'popcorn' Spenser series)
-- I only recently managed to fill in the remaining gaps in
my 'Nameless' collection....
Should I move them a notch or two up the already towering TBR
pile...?
--- Bill Bowers
"Max Collins once told me that he had the books of three of his favorite writers on one shelf--Tucker Coe, Donald Westlake and Richard Stark--before he found out they were the same person." --- Bob Randisi | Rara-Avis
"You mean Sam Holt didn't make it?" --- Mark Blumenthal | ibid.
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