RARA-AVIS: HB nonfiction

dspurlock@humana.com
Tue, 30 Jun 1998 16:18:34 -0400 Hi all:

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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