Jack, I think your assessment is spot on. There's a reason for this, though. This is what the publishers are demanding (with a few notable exceptions, such as Serpent's Tail). If the story has any sort of buildup, then the large NY house editors complain that the book is moving too slowly. The want action from the first page--I guess they feel the public's attention span has been too shortened by other influences (internet, videos, tv, etc.) to accept anything else, or maybe they feel too many of their readers have ADD, I don't know. So the books as you've explained tend to be one outlandish episode after the next, and of course there publishers will also blanch if the books are too dark. SO while these publishers want to call these books noir, they don't want to actually publish noir.
Miami Purity is an excellent example. Another really good example is Robbie's Wife by Russel Hill. This book has a very slow buildup (which is needed), and the descent when it happens is devastating. A great noir book, but doubtful any NY houses would have touched it, but fortunately Hardcase isn't the typical NY publisher.
--Dave
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Jack Bludis <buildsnburns@...> wrote:
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> I suppose this all falls into the "slapstick silly" discussion.
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> I believe that in the noir that defined the genre, there was an arc of interest and action. Paraphrasing Eddie Muller, the protagonist starts in a hole and digs himself or herself deeper--he said it much better than that but I've had only a few hours sleep, so I don't remember the words exactly.
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> Of the newer writers' books, Vicki Hendricks' MIAMI PURITY fits the old profile perfectly.
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> Too much of the noir I have read recently has no ongoing story, is more a series of action and violent confrontations--episodic. This happens, then that happens, and then all hell breaks lose and the protagonists fails--or doesn't fail and life goes on. To me, there seems to be no real build-up--just a startling opening followed by mildly related violence, if related at all, leading to the story's end.
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> At the opening is the slapstick that gets the story started. By slapstick I mean just something so weird that it's funny. Very often it continues through until the novel ends. Usually, it does not come to a conclusion. Sometimes, the protag is not even screwed, but just has come to the end of a bloody trail, suffering some loss. In the best, it loss of life or freedom. Others just end. Most: "Dark and Sinister?" Yes. "Screwed?" Occasionally.
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> That's my take.
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> Jack Bludis
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> Read, read, read. Write, write, write.
> http://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JackBludis
>
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