Ross D. MacDonald or
John D.
MacDonald?
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June 365
- Cold Rifts, Sandra Seamans, COLD RIFTS
- Are You Comfortable, Elissa Schappell, BLUEPRINTS FOR BUILDINBG BETTER GIRLS
Friday's Forgotten Books
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Beat to a Pulp-Round 2
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My Stories on the Web
- A Game of Hide and Seek, YELLOW MAMA
- A Kid Like Billy-CROOKED
- A Saving Grace-The Thrilling Detective
- At the Cafe Sabarsky -Beat to a Pulp
- Bella, the Fortune Teller, Chick Lit Review
- Bit Players-Spinetingler
- Black and White and Red All Over-FFO
- Cooper's Dilemma -Nidus
- Dark Valentine
- Dark Valentine-Monkey Justice
- De Sfinx-A Twist of Noir
- Escapes-MystericalE
- Esther Meaney-Beat to a Pulp
- Eyes Open, Beat to a Pulp
- Georgie-Back Alley Webzine
- Hunting and Fishing in the Keys
- Imprint-Thuglit
- Instrument of Their Desire-Beat to a Pulp
- Killer, Thrillers and Chillers;What Fate Imposes
- Lambs of God-Spinetingler
- Last Rights, CORRIDORS
- Last Rites-Crimefactory
- Like a Hawk Rising -Plots with Guns
- ON PALADIN ROAD-A TWIST OF NOIR
- Portraits of Detroit: Wylie Edwards
- Powder Burn Flash (2 stories)
- Pox and The Leaving-Spinetingler
- Prudency's Rubyfruit Meadow-MystericalE
- Raising the Dead-Back Alley Webzine
- Ramir Obabie-A Twist of Noir
- Roundabout-Spinetingler
- Rounding Third--Storyglossia
- Shame-A Twist of Noir
- SOURIS-DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN
- SPINETINGLER-Father's Day
- The Book of Lies, Crime Factory 10
- THE BRIDE, ROSE AND THORN
- THE GIRLS-MYSTERICAL-E
- The Perfect Day-ALL DUE RESPECT
- THE PROPER TRAINING
- The Proper Training-PLOTS WITH GUNS
- Things We Do For Love, Shotgun Honey
- Too Beautiful-Dark Valentine
- Trouble with Trolls-Thuglit
- University Protocol-Word Riot
- What Did Bagdad Do to Us: SHOTGUN HONEY
- What Fate Imposes-TKC
Blogs/Websites I Read
- Anne Frasier
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- Chris La Tray
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- IN REFERENCE TO MURDER
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- Spinetingler
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- The Rap Sheet
- Thomas Pluck
- Todd Mason
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- Women of Mystery
- Yvette Can Draw
- zybahn
Stories for 365-January
- Home, Gil Brewer from Hardboiled
- Someone, Alice McDermott, THE NEW YORKER
- What's the Worst Thing That Can Happen, Al Tucher, A TWIST OF NOIR
- The Good Doctor, Adam Haslett, YOU ARE NOT A STRANGER HERE
- Clouds in A Bunker, David Cranmer, PULP INK
- Burning End, Ruth Rendell, THE BEST OF THE BEST SHORT STORIES 1986-1995
- Something is Out There, Richard Bausch, MURDERLAND
- Uncle, Daniel Woodrell, A HELL OF A WOMAN
- Dark Adapted Eye, Katherine Tomlinson, SHOTGUN HONEY
- Whiteout on Van Buren, Don Winslow, PHOENIX NOIR
- An Invisble Minus Sign, Denise Mina, DEADLY HOUSEWIVES
- Everything I Want, Megan Abbott, SPEED CHRONICLES
- The Garage Sale of the Three Lindas, Marly Swick, THE SUMMER BEFORE THE SUMMER OF LOVE
- Everybody Loves Somebody, Sandra Scoppettone, A HELL OF A WOMAN
- Harpooned, Sandra Seamans, MYSTERICAL-E
- Burn Patterns, Michael C. White MARKED MEN
- World of Gas, Bonnie Jo Campbell AMERICAN SALVAGE
- Snakes in the Briar Patch, Chad Eagleton, Cathode Angel
- Sea of Grass, Jim Wilsky, ROSE AND THORN
- The Pool, Keith Taylor from LIFE SENTENCES
- Locked Out, Art Taylor, PLOTS WITH GUNS
- Giving Blood, John Updike from THE MAPLES
- Two and Half Miles, W.D. County, SPINETINGLER
- ReBecca, Vicki Hendricks, FLORIDA GOTHIC STORIES
- What is Your Emergency, Chris Rhatigan, GRIFT MAGAZINE
- Here We Are in Paradise, Tony Earley
- 2. 984, 000 Pounds of Pressure, Anonymous Nine. Crime Factory: The First Shift
- You Boys Be Good, Antonya Nelson
- A Blunderbuss for a Broken Heart, Chris LeTray Pulp Modern 2
- Spending Light, John Stickney, NEEDLE, Issue 2
365- February
- A New Life, Kyle Minor, DISCOUNT NOIR
- A Composer and His Parakeets, Ha Jin GOOD FALL
- Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, Joyce Carol Oates
- Girls in Their Summer Dresses, Irwin Shaw
- The Last Spin, Evan Hunter
- The Birthday Party, Graham Greene
- Blue, Rachel Seiffert, FIELD STUDY
- Tonto Woman, Elmore Leonard, THE COMPLETE WESTERN STORIES
- Only Good Ones, Elmore Leonard, THE COMPLETE WESTERN STORIES OF ELMORE LEONARD
- Super Trooper, Nigel Bird, OFF THE RECORD
- The Incident at Owls' Creek Bridge, Ambrose Bierce
- Food Man, Lisa Tuttle, BEST OF CRANK
- The Babysitter's Code, Laura Lippman, PLOTS WITH GUNS
- Graveyard Shift, James Reasoner, Hard-Boiled
- Portrait of An American Family, Benoit Lelievre, SHOTGUN HONEY
- Thanks for the Ride, Alice Munro, Dance of the Happy Shades
- A MAtter of Principal, Max Allan Collins, FAVORITE KILLS
- Cold Snap, Thom Jones COLD SNAP
- Piano Man, Bill Crider, ON DANGEROUS GROUND
- The Ladder, Adrian McKinty, CRIME FACTORY: FIRST SHIFT
- THe Confessor, Lonni Lees, SHOTGUN HONEY
- Plaything, Daniel Hatadi, DEADLY TREATS
- Going to Shrewsbury, Sarah Orne Jewett, THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS
- Sunlight Nocturne, Bill Cameron, DEADLY TREATS
- Escapes, Joy Williams, ESCAPES
- Ugly Pictures, Terrie Moran, THE AWARENESS
- Just Another Saturday Night, William Link, EQMM
- Pride, P.J. Parrish, DETROIT NOIR
- Bonus, Jim Ray Daniels, DETROIT TALES
- Casanova Succumbs to Two-Ton Tina, Rob Kitchin, A TWIST OF NOIR
- The Lost Child, Jean Thompson WHO DO YOU LOVE
365-March
365 -April
May, 365
- Monsters of the Deep, Elissa Schappell, BLUEPRINTS FOR BUILDING A BETTER GIRL
- Solitary Confinement, Sandra Seamans, COLD RIFTS
- Lookout Mountain, John Floyd, MYSTERICAL-E
- Doctor Jack-o'-lantern" Richard Yates, ELEVEN KINDS OF LONELINESS
- Bulldozing the Baby, Jo Ann Beard, BOYS OF MY YOUTH
- Ray's People Have Always Been Soldiers by Barry Basden
- Symbols and Signs, Vladimir Nabokov, THE NEW YORKER 1948
- Referential, Lorrie Moore, THE NEW YORKER
- The Barber's Unhappiness, George Saunders, Pastornalia
- A Commercial Proposition, Richard Wheeler
- Thou Still Unravished Bride, Avram Davidson
- Car Crash While Hitchhiking, Denis Johnson, JESUS' SON
- Someone to Watch Over Me, Richard Bausch, THE COLLECTED STORIES OF
- Undead, Beniot Lelievre, FLASH FICTION OFFENSIVE
- A Freeway on Eartlh, Heath Lowrance, BURNING BRIDGES
- Recitatif, Toni Morrison
- We Dance, Jane Hammons, FICTIONAUT
- Sadie, Jack and Fluffy Go on a Trip, Dennis James, MOBIUS
- Health, Joy Williams, ESCAPES
- No Place for You, My Love, Eudora Welty
- The Sister's Tale, Castle Freeman, ROUND MOUNTAIN
- Sitting on Top of the World, Bill Crider
- Woman on the Dunes, Anais Nin
- Stars of Motown Shining Bright, Julie Orringer, HOW TO BREATHE UNDERWATER
- Words are Cheap, Ken Bruen, MURDALAND
- Kiss Me Again, Stranger, Daphne Du Maurier
- Molotov, Chris Le Tray, ALL DUE RESPECT
- Looking for Romance at a Writer's Convention, Richard Wheeler
- Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne
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29 comments:
I couldn't choose between the MacDonalds. No way.
And I wonder who will.
I have to say I enjoyed Travis as a character more then Lew. But Lew had more complex cases.
I think Ross Macdonald was the finest writer ever of private eye fiction. He brought literary integrity and psychological depth to the form that has never been equaled. I think John D. was the great populist storyteller. He once said that he wrote folk tales for men who carried their lunches in buckets. While I don't think he had the depth of Ross Mc I think he had a range and storytelling ability that Ross Mc sometimes lacked. Hell I read them both all the time. Hard to beat either one of them if you like to watch masters at work.
Travis was certainly more sure of himself than Lew. Many-a-woman put her life back together by sleeping with Travis.
Though I enjoyed Ross as a stylist more, I think John D had a larger breadth of characters and plots.
Dan Luft
I'm glad I don't really have to make a choice because to me they're both indispensable. Ed's answer is on the money.
Ross without question. I always especially appreciated writers I saw as bringing mystery fiction to the level of other great literature. For me that was Dashiell Hammett and Ross MacDonald.
I saw John D. MacDonald as more of an entertainer, though he wrote a cut-above type novel called Condominium.
Ross MacDonald. I discovered his work just a few years ago and was instantly smitten. I agree with Ed, 'he was the finest writer ever of private eye fiction.' I love his books.
One of them, I rushed to read, the other one I savored.
RM for me.
Mr. Gorman said it best.
Yes, he did.
If I had to choose one, It would be Ross. Thankfully, I can read both with great enjoyment and not feel like I'm wasting my time. There are writers I've read that I regretted ever wasting my time with.
One huge bestseller comes to mind.
I'm going to buck the trend and go with John. I like Travis more than Lew (although I generally skip the sex scenes--too early sixties, even when they weren't written in that era); also I like how you can read the entire "touristization" of the state of Florida through the course of his works.
And Patti, how could we ever be sick of you? You ask such interesting questions.
Huge fangirl crush on Travis.
Am I right in thinking zombies, Randy.
Both were better than most of their contemporaries, including several who are too often cited ahead of them.
We wouldn't be here if we were sick of you, Patti...hope you're feeling more sanguine about yourself soonish...
At least one boxer named Mailer was among those I was thinking of.
Probably not hundreds, Patti...perhaps dozens (I certainly haven't read many cozy novels yet, and prefer short fiction on balance).
Mailer comes to mind for sure.
I LOVE short fiction but rarely lose myself in it. It's more about craft, tone.
Right now, I yearn for a book that take me away.
THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A BOOK TO TAKE YOU FAR AWAY.
There's no point in even trying to improve on Ed's remarks, so I won't. It should be mentioned, though, that a goodly number of JDM's best novels are not in the McGee series. Even though these non-series novels are harder to find than the McGees, they shouldn't be skipped.
Craft, tone and passion. Too often, novels become exercises in endurance for even the best, most inspired writers. And it too often shows.
Why choose?
And JDM wrote a lot more than just the Travis McGee books.
Jeff M.
THE EXECUTIONERS by John and perhaps THE CHILL by "Ross" are the current favorites of mine.
Not at all, Patti. Think religion.
I'm a fan of both writers, but the tragic end of Ross Macdonald, a victim of Alzheimer's, tilts my choice to Kenneth Millar.
I've read very little John D. MacDonald, so my opinion isn't well informed. But, having studied and collected the work of Ken Millar/Ross Macdonald (small "d" by the way) in-depth for the last 27 years, I would be hard pressed to name a mystery writer whose work provides me with the rich rewards as the transplanted Santa Barbara writer does. His use of simile and metaphor are often touted, but I am most impressed with his exploration of particular themes within a given book. Look for how he foreshadows events in The Chill with bird imagery, how The Zebra-Striped Hearse is filled with black, white, and grey themes, or how the color, orange, is used in Sleeping Beauty. There's one book that has maybe 20 references to people's faces being like a mask of some kind or another. I enjoy how these themes or images tie in with the structure of the book. It makes for great re-reading. I find there's more going on in a Ross Macdonald book than an intricate plot, and the vision of the world through Lew Archer's eyes is a treat I seldom tire of.
Hi Jeff-Loved the picture you took of us at Noircon.
And I love the work of Margaret Millar too. Probably the best twosome ever.
Hi Patti - I'm pleased the picture turned out well and you're happy with it. I mailed a tube of goodies to Megan (last week?)--do you know if she got it? I'm sorry we didn't really get to chat at NoirCon--I didn't get to hang out as much as I had hoped. Oh well, the best-laid schemes o' mice an' men...
I'll ask, Jeff.
Ross, with every possible way.
Edge to Ross. Ross never wrote anything as bad as JDM's lesser potboilers (CONTRARY PLEASURE, anyone?), and JDM never wrote anything as good as THE ZEBRA-STRIPED HEARSE or THE UNDERGROUND MAN.
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