John mentioned that many contemporary literary novels don't
have form, much less formula. William asked if that was a bad
thing. That interchange reminded me of a question I sometimes
entertain: What authors are experimenting with form and
formula in hardboiled and noir fiction? I don't just mean
telling new stories or using new settings
(say, placing part of the action at raves, as Blincoe and
others have done), but telling them in new ways. I can only
think of a handfull: Manchette (really wish more of his were
translated), Sallis, Auster's NY Trilogy, Jack O'Connell.,
Marc Behm, some Bruen, Aylett (though I'm not really a fan),
maybe Will Christopher Baer (only read the first), Maxim
Jakubowski's PI novel, and Dave's Fast Lane. Looking back,
several of those employ unreliable narrators, not that that's
entirely new (see Wade Miller, for instance). Anyway, I'd
really appreciate any recommendations in this area.
Mark
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