I hope the following doesn't sound like obfuscation. That's
the last thing I intend. The fact is that James Loftus is as
real to me as Gil Brewer or Bob Colby or Richard Demming.
Photocopies of the original manuscripts of most of Loftus's
novels sit in a fireproof filing cabinet in my cellar. These
books are fascinating (and disturbing) to a degree that I
could only hint at in the essay. (And if I finish running the
gauntlet of estate hassles, I promise you that I will find a
way to have them reissued.). I also hope to one day write a
biography of Loftus. The details of his reckless and tragic
life make the Goodis story seem an idyll by comparison.
Again, thanks for the interest. Perhaps one of these days
I'll post some Loftus MS pages or correspondence (two of his
closest friends were Brewer and David Karp). Bracing reading
from a period/genre that, for me, reveals buried and still
shocking and still relevant truths about the mid-20th-century
American psyche.
Regards,
Jack O'Connell PS Feel free to share this info with your
hardboiled list members.
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