September's almost over, and I want to thank Mr. Robison for
being master of ceremonies for the month, looking at
commentary and criticism of HB and noir. The reviews of NOIR
FICTION by Paul Duncan, OVER MY DEAD BODY by Lee Server, THE
BOYS IN THE BACK ROOM by Edmund Wilson, TOUGH GUY WRITERS OF
THE THIRTIES by David Madden, and the others, were detailed
and thought-provoking and make good guides for people wanting
to go further into the background of the tough stuff.
Biographies and criticism have helped me learn a lot about
this kind of writing: the writers, their times, the pulps and
paperback originals, etc. It can be easy to be seduced a
really good crime novel, because it's exciting and hard to
put down, but the good ones--and we talk about a lot of good
ones--deserve some deeper thinking. The books that Mr.
Robison's talked about really help with that. If you're new
to this stuff, grab one or two and dig in. You won't regret
it.
The next step after that is talking about the ideas, and this
month prompted some good discussions. Thanks, miker!
Bill
- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : www.miskatonic.org :
www.frbr.org
RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
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