Gee, it was his glibness and cartoony characterization I
liked, plus the
most outlandish plots since Shell Scott. I don't really think
his work has
changed that much; in fact, the recent LUCKY YOU was a bit
disappointing,
almost a retooling of previous books (not unlike James Lee
Burke's equally
"it's okay, but didn't he write this one before?" SUNSET
LIMITED). I'm with
Baxdeal; I think SKIN TIGHT was Hiassen's funniest. I also
seem to remember
enjoying STRIP TEASE quite a bit, but now all I think of is
that mess with
Demi Moore in it.
And since I'm being so agreeable with folks today, I'm with
Mario on
Norbert Davis: someone somewhere should definiely reissue his
stuff.
Everything I've read of his has ranged from very good to
great. Davis'
mixture of hardboiledness and humour, and his great,
sometimes loopy,
characters make his stuff far more enjoyable and downright
fun than many of
those old pulp stories we've been told over and over are
classics. Max
Latin is one of the great scam artist/P.I.s. He works out of
a restaurant
he secretly owns, and wages a constant war with the cook and
staff. And
still finds time to find the geetus, catch the crooks, drives
the cops
nuts, and save the girl.
It's inexplicable that lesser stories by lesser pulp writers
seem to
continually bubble to the surface, while Davis' lie in
obscurity. Maybe
someone somewhere is holding onto copyrights?
A while ago, someone was trying to adapt some of his stuff
for radio, but I
haven't heard how that project's been going lately.
Kevin Smith
The Thrilling Detective Web Site
http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
Now out: The Spring Break issue, with fiction from Robert
Iles and Leigh
Brackett,
and FACE THE FACE, our new contest for fans of paperback
eyes. Win a copy
of THE BIG BOOK OF NOIR!
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