Re: RARA-AVIS: How much Background?

From: Al Guthrie ( allanguthrie@ukonline.co.uk)
Date: 14 May 2003


----- Original Message ----- From: "William Denton" < buff@pobox.com>
> The flashbacks in Dan J. Marlowe's THE NAME OF THE GAME IS
> DEATH (or was is the second Earl Drake book?) were a real drag. I wished
> he'd handled the criminal anti-hero's background the way Donald Westlake
> did with Parker, who has none. Old heists may be mentioned, but nothing
> about how his pappy put down his favourite dog.

Or the consequences: Parker putting down his pappy. But what if pappy didn't put down the dog? What if Parker spent long months training his pappy's favourite dog to kill dear old pappy? What if he subsequently suffered enormous guilt when the unsuspecting authorities put down the dog? What if his mother found out and he had to get rid of her too? It's all a question of relevance, as several others have already pointed out.

Al

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