I feel that the two are not mutually exclusive. However and I should have explained more, when you do a grand epic novel, filled with many characters and not one solid base, I do not feel it can be truly hardboiled in the Chandelr, hammett, macdonald, macdonald sense. I hope this explains but let's see what others think. On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Larson, Craig wrote: > > When Alexander Cooley Ives wrote that _American Tabloid_ is > "a crime novel. It is not hardboiled," I have to admit that I > find myself scratching my head. Are the two mutually > exclusive? Cannot a crime novel also be a hardboiled novel? > Aren't most hardboiled novels concerned in some way with > crime? > > Craig Larson > - # RARA-AVIS: To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" # to majordomo@icomm.ca