Something that's been touched on only rarely (as I recall) in
this group is
hard-boiled nonfiction. I think it's a topic worthy of
discussion here.
By HB nonfiction, I don't mean the burgeoning genre of
true-crime/serial
killer studies like "The Killer Beside Me" by Ann Rule or
those many Ann
Rule wannabes. I'm thinking more of . . . well, I'm not sure
exactly what I
mean, so perhaps discussion here can eventually develop a
definition or at
least a description (keeping in mind the many postings we've
already had
that try to define "hard boiled").
Here's an example, I think, of hard-boiled nonfiction: Nick
Tosches'
biography of Dean Martin, "Dino". I haven't read the whole
thing yet, but
it's a pretty unflinching look at Martin's private side, the
story behind
that public persona of the lovable lush that marked most of
his later
career. Unfortunately, the prose is fairly purple in
passages, which
detracts a bit from its hard-boiledness. But I think it's a
good candidate
to use as a starting point.
Actually, Tosches' shorter pieces that I've read seem more
obviously hard
boiled. I recently read a very good profile of Sonny Liston
that Tosches
wrote. I'll look up the magazine at home and post the
essentials here.
(I've never read any of Tosches' novels. Anyone have some
reviews to post
here on those?)
Meanwhile, I look forward to hearing from others about their
nominations
for hard-boiled nonfiction. -- Duane
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