--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Zeltserman"
<dz@...> wrote:
>
> Mike, your inclusion of Double Indemnity is an
interesting one.
> Walter Huff's motivation for the murder and his
subsequent downfall
> is more out of traditional noir--there's nothing
really psychotic
> about his outlook or rationalizations, but more that
crossed that
> moral line and is doomed. However, Phyliss
definitely fits under the
> psycho noir definitions. Maybe that's why I liked
Double Indemnity so
> much--it's a strong mix of both. Another good
Willeford example of
> psycho noir--"The Woman Chaser".
The first psycho noir novel I know of is _The Right Red Hand_
by Joel Townsley Rogers. But the genre did exist long before,
in the fantasy and sci-fi pulps (the work of Sturgeon,
Wandrei, etc.). Those pulpsters were fond of the "lunatic
(maybe) on the loose" topic... I don't think a discussion of
psycho noir is possible starting from the Hammett et al.
tradition of hardboiled writing. I don't think Thompson and
Willeford, for example, come from that tradition, and
Woolrich deviated so much from it that maybe he didn't really
start from it. The Woolrich short stories, as well as some by
Fredric Brown, indicate a very different sensibility, a
fantastic bent. Both of them were capable of writing straight
mysteries and hardboiled characters, of course, but they're
not Hammettian at all.
Best,
mrt
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