-----Check out www.mysteryfile.com/blog/ for a favorable review OF TENDER SIN by Goodis.
-----Walker Martin
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Ron Clinton" <clinton65@...> wrote:
>
> Not a fall, per se, and I probably overstated that by comparing him to
> Brewer, but certainly an uneven finish. THE WOUNDED AND SLAIN and FIRE IN
> THE FLESH, for example, are two later books that are far cries from the
> brilliance of his earlier work. Having said that, as you rightly point out,
> THE BLONDE ON THE STREET CORNER and SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER/DOWN THERE
> sandwiched these two lesser works, and both are quite good. His final one,
> SOMEBODY'S DONE FOR, was a generally unremarkable capstone, but certainly
> better than WOUNDED and FIRE. So again -- yes, more uneven a career end
> than a linear decline.
>
> Ron C.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com [mailto:rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com] On
> > Behalf Of Mark Sullivan
> > Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 6:15 PM
> > To: rara-avis
> > Subject: RE: RARA-AVIS: Where have you gone Rara-Avis (Brewer)
> >
> >
> > When exactly was Goodis's fall? I have not yet read all of his books,
> neither his
> > first nor last, but have read both early and late and don't see a decline.
> Now I'm not
> > implying all of his books are great, but the better and the not so good
> seem to be
> > side by side. For instance, The Wounded and the Slain, not one of his
> best, comes
> > right between The Blonde on the Street Corner and Down There, two
> particularly
> > good ones. And his faults, like the over reliance on coincidence, run
> throughout his
> > career. Of course, in his best books, like Street of No Return, Goodis
> could make
> > you overlook those coincidences.
> > Mark
> >
> > > To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> > > From: clinton65@...
> > > Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:34:10 -0700
> > > Subject: RE: RARA-AVIS: Where have you gone Rara-Avis (Brewer)
> > >
> > > I'll throw in my comment along with the others for conversation...
> > >
> > > I just read Gil Brewer's MEMORY OF PASSION (Lancer, 1962, pbo), and I
> can
> > > now safely say -- and with not a little amount of regret -- I know
> precisely
> > > where Brewer's decline began.
> > >
> > > I was really looking forward to this novel since it's the Brewer that's
> > > evaded me for some time, but it was a disappointment on many levels.
> The
> > > decline into alcoholism, hackwork and sleaze porn novels...in hindsight,
> > > MEMORY painfully foreshadows all that's to come. 'Course, even judged
> on
> > > its own merits in a contextual vacuum, it's a slogging mess...and you
> won't
> > > find a much bigger fan of Brewer than me.
> > >
> > > The decline in quality from his brilliant '50s novels to MEMORY is
> stunning;
> > > I can't think of another pbo author whose decline parallels (let alone
> > > exceeds) the degree to which Brewer fell. Some come close, perhaps
> (Goodis
> > > comes to mind, as does Woolrich), but none reach Brewer's extreme.
> > >
> > > Ron C.
>
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