RARA-AVIS: Serial Killers...Hard-Boiled and Ellroy (was: Broadly speaking

Words from the Monastery (jackechs@erols.com)
Sat, 22 Aug 1998 09:01:57 -0400 At 02:55 PM 8/22/98 , ejm duggan wrote:

> We've been through this. While we can't construct a water-tight
> definition of hardboiled (or noir, come to that) we have, I think
> excluded the slasher novel--unless written by Ellroy ;->

Is this archived? I'd be interested in reading the thread on this topic.
While I can't think of any serial murder novels that I've read having a
hard-boiled protagonist, I've never thought of that being an inherent or
definitive reason to eliminate it from the genre either. Haven't fully
formed my own opinion, but I do feel that as far as hard-boiled goes it's
more to do with the overall atmosphere and voice of the work than simply
the crime committed. So, if it's not a sore issue ... why isn't a slasher
novel or why can't a slasher novel be hard-boiled unless it's written by
Ellroy?

Anthony

Note: For discussion purposes, I am assuming the specific definition of
serial killer ... sexual predator ... vice simply someone who has killed a
number of people over a period of time (aka a hit man is a serial killer in
the general definition of the term).
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