I'd never heard of Stewart Meyer before I found this -?in its
enticing Serpent's Tail, Midnight Classic -?livery in a
second hand book store. But after shooting through it and
googling the man I find he's a William S Burroughs pal, viz:
"Stewart Meyer, a street kid from Brooklyn, Burroughs'
glorified chauffeur and best pupil. Meyer's first novel, The
Lotus Crew, written under Burroughs' tutelage, became a
classic in its own time."?Although another source indicates
that he's British in origin.
I'm a sucker for drug lit, and I loved this. It's very short,
145 pages in this edition, and rattles along, telling the
tale of a newly formed heroin crew in 1980s New York.
I?needed the slang glossary at the end to start with but soon
got the hang of the mostly hispanic lingo.?He writes
the?dialogue phonetically, in a forest of apostrophes?-
again, something that took a little getting used to, here's
an example of what comes out:
"I gib j'uno mo' bag. J'shoulda seen j'face when I pull
m'iron, man. Shit! Sorry 'bou' da' shit!"
At this length perhaps its not a surprise that you end up
feeling you?wanted to know?a little more about?the
characters, many of whom flit briefly?onto the page their
stories never to be resolved?- the fellow I thought was going
to be the main protaganist all but disapears from the story.
And, hell, I like brevity and the narrative works nicely for
me.?It reminded me of Clarence Cooper's?The Scene - which I
also love, and, to me had echoes of Stark's The Outfit, for
its explanation of the hows of criminal behaviour.?There's
been some talk of authenticity of the list lately - this
rings true, but in all honesty, how the heck would I know
anyway? I can't find anything else by Meyer on the net,
beyond a possible short story listen as content at a site
selling second hand porn magazines. Did he do anything else?
The only biographical detail in this copy is "Stewart Meyer
lives in New York City".
I'd recommend it - won't take you long to finish
either.??
All the best Avians,?
Colin.?
PS - Are my emails appearing to you with?question marks
scattered at random through them? They do when they come?back
to me - if anyone knows how to stop this annoying glitch I'd
be grateful for an off-list shout. ??
-----Original Message----- From:
scatalogic@aol.com To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com Sent: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:34
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Sin Pit (Flippant)
I have to say that Sin Pit is one of the finest Noir/HB book
titles I've seen in a while. Almost archetypal you might say,
and as the saying goes,?'would make a great?name for a
band'.
Cheers all,?
Colin.?
-----Original Message----- From: Ron Clinton <
clinton65@comcast.net> To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com Sent: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:28
Subject: RE: RARA-AVIS: Sin Pit
Hi, Randy:
Email Gary Lovisi @
GryphonBooks@worldnet.att.net and let him know what you
want. He'll confirm order via email and then request your CC
(if that's the way you're paying) be sent in four separate
emails (he has no secure ordering).
Hope this helps.
Ron
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Randy Krbechek
> Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 11:58
PM
> To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Sin Pit
>
> At 2/27/2008, Ron Clinton wrote:
> >Sin Pit by Paul S. Meskil, incredible
hard-boiled cop and crime Noir
> >by a master, new edition, reprints rare Lion
Book from 1950s, intro by
Gary
> >Lovisi, new Afterword by the author, as new,
trade paperback, $16.00 +
> >postage.
>
> Ron, I can't get the order form to work at the
Gryphon Books
> website. How'd you place your order?
>
> Bye.
> Randy Krbechek
> Fresno, CA
>
>
>
>
> RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
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