Reading Forgotten Books(These two were originally chosen by Bill Crider and Daniel Hatadi and happened to already be in my TBR pile)
The Night Remembers by Ed Gorman.
Published originally in 1991 and reissued now, The Night Remembers (Ramble House) is the poignant story of a private investigator that may have helped send the wrong man to prison.
What knocks me out about this novel is the ease in which you slip into its pages, how quickly the character of Jack Walsh becomes someone you want to spend time with, how easily the story presents itself. Gorman perfectly integrates Walsh’s personal story with his investigation of the case. This is a rare trait nowadays when jockeying story lines and characters often distance you from any real sense of character. A joy to read.
Gun in Cheek (Mysterious Press) by Bill Prozini made me laugh more than any recent book by David Sedaris. Oh, to be a writer in the 1930s. You could say anything without fear of reprisal. Heck, the writers didn't even know how offensive they were. Any notion of political correctness was absent. Every group, save that of the white man, is ruthlessly pillaged in the novels Pronzini examines. Bad writing, sexist writing, racist writing, stereotypical writing, boring writing abound. “She swayed toward me, a sob swelling her perky pretty-pretties.” What more is there to say about this comprehensive look at the worse in crime fiction writing. Try it.
9 comments:
As it happens, I recognize the GUN IN CHEEK passage you quoted, and Robert Leslie Bellem was clearly writing like that on purpose. His stuff is always good for a laugh, though it's not politically correct.
Graham-I have to assume a lot of these are written, tongue in cheek. Or I hope so. The dull writing is the most unforgivable--then as now.
One fine book I've read (and its sequel SON OF GUN IN CHEEK, though I haven't tracked down SIXGUN IN CHEEK, the bad western volume), and one I haven't, though hope to. I've yet to find anything genuinely funny about Sedaris, having experienced a number of his NPR/PRI bits and some of his NEW YORKER entries (his parody of John Simon was particularly jejune), but I'll cheerfully admit that I haven't read much by him. He did come close in his assertion, in a piece on THIS AMERICAN LIFE on living in Paris as not yet a Francophone, that he'd be damned if he'd wander around all morning hoping to bum a light for his cigaret, by asking in his best awkward French, Do you have fire?
I find him funny on and off. Some of his childhood stuff especially. My favorite humorist though will always be Jean Sheppard (hope I'm spelling it right) and I have two of his books closely guarded.
Jean Shepherd. Ever listen to his show? Have or have accessed the online recordings?
So many humorists for me, not least my early favorite Saki, and Robert Benchley (so much funnier in print than in the short subjects TCM keeps turning up). Really dug Jean Kerr as a kid, too, haven't read her too much since (thought of her first when reading Shepherd's name).
Only heard him once. Did he do the narration for A Christmas Story? Can you listen online somewhere?
http://www.keyflux.com/shep/ is one place that boasts of links to audio archives and such.
He did indeed marrate the film from his memoir.
Hi Patti - my email's down and Yahoo doesn't like your email domain for some reason... anyway, I have a forgotten book for tomorrow - - was trying to send you copy, but couldn't. It will be live before I leave for work in the morning!
Russel
Thanks, Russel. I so much appreciate it. I have your link ready to go at http://theseayemeanstreets.blogspot.com
If that seems off, let me know. I have a habit of leaving off the vital
pieces of information!
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