Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: Pelecanos - My Five Most Important Crime Novels

From: Patrick King (abrasax93@yahoo.com)
Date: 04 Oct 2008

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    Yes. Likewise The Postman Always Rings Twice and The Killer Inside Me.

    Patrick King

    --- On Sat, 10/4/08, davezeltserman <davezelt@rcn.com> wrote: From: davezeltserman <davezelt@rcn.com> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Pelecanos - My Five Most Important Crime Novels To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com Date: Saturday, October 4, 2008, 9:59 AM

        
                

    Hard to take any list without Maltese Falcon leading it too seriously.

    --- In rara-avis-l@ yahoogroups. com, "Michael S. Chong"

    <menglish47@ ...> wrote:

    >

    > From Newsweek dated Sep 29, 2008

    > http://www.newsweek .com/id/160097

    >

    > My Five Most Important Crime Novels

    >

    >

    > 1.

    > "

    > The Long Goodbye

    > " by Raymond Chandler. A melancholic ode to loss and the

    passage of time.

    >

    > 2.

    > "

    > The Burglar

    > " by David Goodis. Hypnotic prose and a shocking ending.

    Call it pulp if you have the need to. It's disturbing art.

    >

    >

    > 3.

    > "The Last Good Kiss" by James Crumley. The post-Vietnam

    stunner that reinvigorated the genre and jacked up a generation of

    future crime novelists.

    >

    >

    > 4. "Swag" by Elmore Leonard. Down-and-dirty, this one

    smokes front to back, and the voice is one of a kind.

    >

    >

    > 5. "Clockers" by Richard Price. My generation's "Grapes

    of Wrath."

    >

    > A CLASSIC YOU'VE REVISITED WITH DISAPPOINTMENT:  "The

    Godfather" by Mario Puzo. Except for the page that features Sonny and

    the bridesmaid. That page never disappoints.

    >

    > A BOOK YOU HOPE PARENTS READ TO THEIR KIDS: "True Grit" by

    Charles Portis. A great adult novel with a strong, teenage female

    protagonist.

    > ***Interesting choices...  I'm surprised Pelecanos did not include

    Newton Thornburg's "Cutter and Bone" for which he wrote an

    introduction for a reissue.

    > Michael

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