Wow, the Philadelphia Inquirer picked up on a "phenomenon"
that's only 30 years old. Both Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines
were ex-cons who created a literary career for themselves
writing about their lives in and out of prison. Both were
writing in the early '70's and both are cited as seminal
influences in the modern hip-hop music scene and then current
Blaxploitation film genres. Their books would most definitely
hit all of your requirements for hard-boiled noir.
Then going back further you have Chester Himes, an ex-convict
himself who single-handedly created the African-American
crime genre in literature.
I have not read any of the books on your list, but as an
example of hip-hop noir I submit Renay Jackson's "Oaktown
Devil" and
"Shakey's Loose." They are both very much influenced by
Chester Himes' darkly comic writings about odd-ball
characters in the urban ghetto, this time it's Oakland,
California. Although Jackson was never a criminal his street
credentials are pretty good. He was a janitor at the Oakland
police station for 20 years, and he sold the first editions
of his books out of the trunk of his car before they got
picked up for republication by Frog Books. His books are
worth their value alone for their excellently drawn hip-hop
style noirish covers.
"Shakey's Loose", although the sequel is the better of the
two in terms of capturing the local color of Oakland as it
continues the story of gangsta's vying for control of the
lucrative drug trade in inner-city Oakland.
Jackson's faults are that he's pretty weak on plotting and
has a fascination with what the characters are wearing and
eating. He's also got too much gratuitous sex and not enough
gratuitous violence for my taste. But I think his books are
worth a look.
As another prison lit hard-boiled writer I also suggest
Edward Bunker's "Bad Boy" and "Dog Eat Dog." Bunker was an
ex-con who kept trying to go straight and ultimately gained
some reknown as a writer. Quentin Tarantino was one of his
admirers and Bunker had a minor role in "Reservoir Dogs"
which is clearly inspired by Bunker's books. Bunker draws on
his prison experiences, cons he knew and the stories they
told to give a gritty, realistic picture of criminal
psychology and behavior.
"Dog Eat Dog" Bunker's last and best book is an excellent
story of an ex-con dealing with his new found "freedom".
Through no fault of his own the ex-con protagonist is forced
to go on the run and his attempts at escape are harrowing and
exciting.
---- Channing
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