The Long-Legged Fly is the debut novel by James Sallis, featuring Black private detective Lew Griffin in New Orleans. It was followed by several more novels, all having an insect in the title. (And many other novels like DRIVE that did not)
It follows Griffin as he searches for missing persons
across four different time periods (1964, 1970, 1984, 1990), with the
cases serving as a backdrop to explore his own struggles with
alcoholism, loneliness, and a troubled past. The
book is praised for its lyrical, blues-like prose and its focus on
character over traditional plot, making it more a story about a
detective than a standard mystery.
There are similarities between this series and Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlings books, which are set in L.A.
Sallis died not long ago. Before his death, he published an anthology of his many fine short stories.
7 comments:
Oh, I liked this very much, Patti! There's so much to it, even though it's not a long book, and I liked the way it follows Lew Griffin through the years.
I'm not sure I read this or not. Sallis liked to make jumps in time in his novels. I may be confusing it for another.
Aa you know, I'm a big fan of Sallis's, and this series in particular.
I thought his last novel was in 2019, but I see there is a posthumously published one, World's Edge: A Mosaic Novel, made up of five linked stories, published in February.
Not familiar with that one. I have his stories on my kindle but have not read many yet.
I read Sallis's 1970s short fiction, mostly if not entirely in sf and fantasy, very cheerfully, and was very pleased with DRIVE, as well...need to pick up his other cf novels.
Once again, I have several of these insect novels...unread. I'll have to dig one out and read it.
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