I just read *Sleep w/ the Devil* by Day Keene (Lion 1954) and
thought it
was Brilliant. Keene is By Far my favorite "undiscovered"
writer (i.e.
writer whose works have never or rarely been reprinted). He's
one of the
very few who can write a genuinely funny hard-boiled novel.
Read him if
you haven't (read stuff written pre-1960 -- at some point he
decided he
wanted to be a serious writer and began turning out mediocre
dreck,
including a 1964 novel about a court case involving
artificial
insemination! The pb version was called . . . . something
Seed, I think).
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael D. Sharp Email: msharp@umich.edu
Department of English Lang. and Lit. Phone: (313)
761-8776
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Fax: (313) 763-3128
On Fri, 12 Dec 1997, Andy Hughes wrote:
>
> Mario Taboada mentioned Fredric Brown in his reply
regarding W.C. Gault.
> I've read "Night of the Jabberwocky" and loved it.
Did he write anything
> else? Was it on a par with "Night"?
>
> >----------
> >From: Mario
Taboada[SMTP:matrxtech@sprintmail.com]
> >Sent: Friday, December 12, 1997 9:03 AM
> >To: rara-avis@icomm.ca
> >Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS:Gault
> >
> >
> >Tosh Berman:
> >
> ><<This might have been a subject matter I
missed on this list, but who
> >is William Campbell Gault?>>
> >
> >Gault (1910-1995) was a prolific writer of
mysteries and books for young
> >people; in a long career, he wrote some of the
most interesting private
> >eye novels I have ever read (two series,
featuring Brock Callahan and
> >Joe Puma, respectively), nonseries novels, and
many short stories for
> >the pulps. What's remarkable about Gault is the
freshness and
> >spontaneity of his authorial voice (as fresh as
Willeford, if not on the
> >same level of literary wizardry), the consistent
level of his work (I am
> >not aware of any really weak books of his), his
sense of humor and
> >gentle irony, and his powers of observation of
people and details. I
> >consider him a master, even though he did not
have the incredible
> >inventiveness and virtuosity of a Fredric Brown,
or the clockwork
> >precision of a Howard Browne. I would say that
his virtues are less
> >visible and therefore his work seems at first
sight more modest than
> >that of other famous writers. But only at first
sight...In that respect,
> >he resembles the great Charles
Williams.
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Mario Taboada
> >#
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