There are some biographies where the writer combines style
and wit with a detailed knowledge of every aspect of the
subject's life, combines it with a wide-ranging view of the
times and culture, and then picks and choosses to describe
what the person was really like way down deep, what they did,
and why they mattered. And then there are biographies like
THE RED HOT TYPEWRITER: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN D.
MACDONALD (2000) by Hugh Merrill, which don't.
We talked about the book back in September 2000, and you can
check the archives (look for "Red Hot" or "MacDonald bio" in
the subject) to see what Mr. Crider and Mr. Moore and others
said. They didn't like it much, and neither do I. Tom Nolan
didn't either:
http://www.januarymagazine.com/biography/redhot.html
It's a biography of the creator of Travis McGee, and it tells
us the name of the minister presiding at the wedding of JDM's
wife's short-lived first marriage, but it doesn't bother
describing most of the McGee books. Or most of his other
books. The later big books (CONDOMINIUM, ONE MORE SUNDAY, NO
DEADLY DRUG) get special treatment, as do the movie
adaptations, but there's not much here to make anyone who
hadn't read any JDM go out and buy a copy.
Merrill did most of his work in the JDM archives, and there
are excerpts from letters to and from JDM, but no interviews.
JDM comes off as grumpy and always willing to tell someone
why they're wrong. He never comes alive, and his wife and son
are hardly there at all.
The bibliography at the end does not list any of JDM's pulp
stories, which is a very annoying omission.
I'm going to reread "The Big White Smile," by Charles
Willeford (collected in WRITING AND OTHER BLOOD SPORTS),
which is about JDM and a very nice short essay, as I
remember.
Bill
-- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
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