I am pleased to hear someone else praise Avallone's HIGH NOON
AT MIDNIGHT. On the several occasions in the past when I've
praised it friends shake their heads and assume I am putting
them on. I would not call it a "great private eye novel"
because I've never thought of it as a PI novel, even though
it features Avallone's Ed Noon. I do completely agree that it
made "an original and profound statement." Some surface plot
elements are crude, cartoonish science fiction and many
readers may find that off-putting. Yet, within the novel, it
is clear that Noon may well be having a psychotic episode
with delusions that include Gary Cooper and alien invaders.
Very odd and very powerful, I've never read anything remotely
like it. As I've written before, hats off to editors Karen
and Bill Palmer, the editors at Paperjacks, for having the
courage to publish it. Mike was at a low point when the book
came out and I have to think that his anger and at- the-edge
desperation helped power this one last novel. I'm glad I told
him how much I admired it and wrote a positive review
published in that much missed publication Mystery and
Detective Monthly. Warning to those who look for a copy. I
rarely see copies and suspect the Paperjacks printings were
small.
Richard Moore
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "George Tuttle"
<noirfiction@w...> wrote:
>
> For whatever it is worth, I miss Mike Avallone. I
suspect in Mike's
> mind, he thought of himself as the Mel Ott of the
genre. He wasn't.
> Still, with his book High Noon at Midnight, I
thought he wrote a truly
> great private eye novel and made an original and
profound statement
> about a type of fiction too often riddled with
cliques and mediocrity.
> Mike wasn't a .300 hitter. He was more of a
journeyman utility
> outfielder, one who always got surprised every year
when he didn't
> make the All-Star team. Still, with that one book, I
thought Mike was
> everything in his mind's eye, and some.
>
> George the Librarian
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 24 Oct 2005 EDT