I just finished A Diet of Treacle. It was an accident. I
picked it up a couple of days ago to skim the first couple
chapters to get a feel for it, and I ended up three quarters
of the way through the book before I was done. It's certainly
not a lost classic, but Block goes down easy for some reason.
It's not exactly When the Sacred Ginmill closes, but it's
definitely readable. On balance, I'd have to say its tone is
quaint. For a sleaze book about bohemians in Greenwich
Village it's remarkably prudish.There's no swearing, and it
sidesteps some issues in humorous ways. For instance, there
is a peripheral character, who is described as a virgin, and
yet she is also described as wanton, and promiscuous. It's
left up to the reader's imagination to decide exactly what
she does with these men. The book's attitude toward marijuana
is also remarkably grounded. Block wasn't trying for a Reefer
Madness sort of vibe. There isn't much of a plot. Things
don't really start to happen until the last third of the
book, but the characters themselves are interesting enough
that it's not really an issue. There's a lot of telling
instead of showing, but I think that's just part and parcel
of the rushed nature of these types of books. There's a
limited amount of space to describe the characters and move
things along. It doesn't really leave e lot of room for
subtle characterization.
On Dec 29, 2007 8:44 AM, Nathan Cain <
indiecrime@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks.
>
>
> On Dec 28, 2007 9:15 PM, <
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net> wrote
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Nathan asked:
> >
> >
> > "Out of curiosity, does anyone know the
original title of Block's A Diet
> > of Treacle and what name it was published
under?"
> >
> > From Block's website:
> >
> > "A DIET OF TREACLE. Hard Case Crime, Jan. 2008.
Originally published in
> > 1961 by Beacon as Pads Are For Passion under
the pseudonym Sheldon Lord,
> > and out of print until this HCC reprint. A
young girl encounters drugs,
> > sex and disaffection in old Greenwich
Village."
> >
> > Mark
> >
> >
>
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