I wrote:
>"I'm not sure if anyone else has added much more
really new to the P.I.
>genre since, though, with the arguable exception of
Robert B. Parker.
>Oh, there have been some great P.I. writers, but to
be considered
>influential, you also have to sell beyond a small
cult audience, and
>capture the imagination of the general
public."
And Mark wrote:
>If the general public is the criterion, maybe the
arena has shifted to
>TV -- Rockford? Magnum?
Well, certainly Rockford, created by Stephen J. Cannell and
Roy Huggins, influenced a boatload of P.I. writers (just as
Huston,, Dmytryk, Lang and other filmmakers did in their
era). But Cannell and Huggins' Rockford appeared
approximately the same time as Parker's Spenser, so it's hard
to say who really knocked the lone wolf P.I. thing off its
solemn pedestal, and upped the wisecracks.
Magnum was just Lance White without the wit, the charm or the
great writing.
But my point was that for a writer to be really considered
influential, he has to have really influenced other writers,
not just been enjoyed by them. so, while I think someone like
Crumley, for example, is a damn good writer, I'm not sure
he's really influenced many other writers. Inspired them,
maybe, but not necessarily influenced them.
--
Kevin
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