I am somewhat disappointed in the description that Bill gives
of this
book. I was planning to buy it soon. As to Ross Macdonald's
reputation,
I have been hearing rumors of such a "conspiracy" or
shilling
arrangement for years; does Herron give the names of the
critics and
some corroborating evidence? As an aside, I have noticed that
John
Updike is always treated with kid gloves in the NYRB, for
which he
works. Only the great novelist Robert Stone, in a recent
review, has
dared suggest that all that glitters in Updike is not
gold...Updike,
whom I view as something of a hack, has been the darling of
so many
critics in the influential media that I continue to be
shocked when I
read his fiction, which is pedestrian and thematically very
narrow.
To get back on topic: which mystery writers besides Macdonald
have
benefited from biased and exagerated favorable reviews?
Regards,
Mario Taboada
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