RARA-AVIS: Re: Rare Books Continued - Somebody's Done For

From: Richard Moore (moorich@aol.com)
Date: 28 Oct 2008

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    --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "tomarmstrongmusic" <tom@...> wrote:
    >
    > --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Vorzimmer" <jvorzimmer@>
    > wrote:
    >
    > > I don't think he crammed enough living in those good years to give
    his
    > > novels the necessary verisimilitude before retreating to the
    > oblivion of the
    > > poolhalls of Northeast Philly.
    >
    > I don't know that I read Goodis for verisimilitude. the basic plot
    > points of almost all of his books go for extremes that push the ol'
    > suspension of disbelief way into the red,

    I think a novelist can pick up a lot about life in a Northwest Philly poolhall that would be very useful in writing crime fiction. I may be prejudiced since I have spent a fair amount of time in pool halls myself and it seems like fertile territory for a writer.

    As for Goodis, I read DOWN THERE and several of his drunk/skid row novels and I have to say based on that reading the man had lots of verisimilitude. He certainly knew bars, drunks and the gutter and wrote about them well.

    Richard Moore

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