Re: RARA-AVIS: "...medical and legal support for the traditional libel against c

From: jacquesdebierue ( jacquesdebierue@yahoo.com)
Date: 28 Jan 2008


--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Zeltserman" <dz@...> wrote:
>
> Mr T, I'm shocked, shocked to find swearing going on in here!
>

> BUT--go into any bookstore today and
> you'll find plenty of examples of formulaic, conventional mysteries
> and thrillers that are pure genre. I'll go further--more and more
> today the larger NY houses are unwilling to publish "crime novels"
> that aren't formulaic and conventional, while these same restraints
> aren't put on "literary" fiction.

But even if a mystery follows a traditional style, say a PI mystery or a manor mystery with lacy old ladies and frowning inspectors, that's no impediment for it to be a great book. In other words, the formula is not a deterrent for quality. Look at PI writers. Chandler followed a formula and wrote great stuff. You could have said back then that the formula was worn out (in fact, Chandler knew that it was a formula), but it didn't deter Chandler or any of the great PI writers who came after him.

>There's a reason why the readers on
> this group tend to gravitate towards presses like Hard Case Crime,
> Serpent's Tail, No Exit Press, Bitter Lemmon, Bleak House, etc.--
> because these are the houses that are more willing to publish these
> crime novels that color outside the lines (and thank god for these
> houses--both as a reader and as a writer!!!).
>

I agree. People here seem to like something different, and so do I. But I can't rule out because it's framed within a traditional form. Otherwise, we would have to rule out folk music, in fact most music.

Best,

mrt



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