> As far as new stuff coming out, I really enjoy
Pellecanos' Nick Stefanos
> books. They are as close to hardboiled as you can get
these days. I'm from
> the DC area, and he has the setting nailed
perfectly.
Hello P.,
Welcome aboard --- you have some pretty good reading
credentials behind
you with an impressive list of authors. However, and I hope
this
doesn't ruffle your (or too many others') feathers much, but
Pellecanos
*hard-boiled*? I just don't get it. Oh, I know there's all
the
impressive blurb on the back on the dust jackets, but it's
pretty medium
fare, IMO.
How hard-boiled can a *sensitive* dude with a girlfriend
be?
Also, there's all that annoying stuff about how much Stefanos
tips, what
he ate, what he listens to on the radio --- it feels like
Pellecanos is
very much aware of the reader looking over his shoulder, and
he is
*desparate* to impress, to have Stefanos do/think/say the
right thing,
listen to the right stuff, pass the label check. It's as if a
very
hefty dose of Brett Easton Ellis has been stirred in (_Less
Than Zero_,
not _American Psycho_).
Maybe Pellecanos will lighten up, mature a bit as a writer,
and
concentrate more on writing than posing.
If you want recent hard-boiled, try to find some of the Nick
Sharman
stories by Mark Timlin.
ED
[First late-night rant of 1998]
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