RARA-AVIS: Re: The popularity of the Private Investigator

From: Dave Zeltserman ( davezelt@comcast.net)
Date: 17 Feb 2006


I'm not sure I buy that the PI has fallen out of favor. Block, Crais, Connelly, Deaver, Coben, Mosley all sell a ton of books, but I think we're increasingly seeing the larger publishing houses falling into this superstar mentality - if a book doesn't look like its going to sell a gazillion copies all at once, the houses seem less likely take on a book or promote it. So the only PI books that get any promotion and mass distribution each year are the couple of dozen from the superstar authors.

--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Michael Robison
<miker_zspider@...> wrote:
>
> Mark wrote:
>
> PI seem to have fallen out of favor since then. Is it
> publishers being less likely to publish them, or
> writers less likely to write them? Who are the new,
> post-Pelecanos/Lehane, etc, PI writers?
>
> **************
> The PI is an American icon, maybe not as powerful as
> the cowboy, but close. And like the cowboy, the PI
> hit critical mass and then the fanfare died down
> somewhat. There are a lot of characters nowadays
> whose vocations parallel that of the PI, like cops and
> lawyers. I think the popularity of the female PI that
> started in the early 80s has helped maintain the
> character.
>
> miker
>
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