> My short history of the pulps (Dime Detectives)
doesn't mention her; the
> 1946 anthology, The Art of the Mystery Story, ed. by
Howard Haycraft, and,
> later, Julian Symons characterized her as writing
"crime comedy." But I'd
> be the first to admit that these are not extensive
sources.
>
> So far, then, she and Leigh Brackett are on my list
to check.
A few more thoughts. It may be difficult to decide whether to
dismiss her
work as neither noir nor harboiled. Mario would probably term
the stuff
I've read and liked "medium-boiled."
While crime comedy is also probably a fitting label for some
of her work, I
think it misses a point. Craig Rice was apparently a deeply
troubled woman
who tried to make her pain go away through drink. She
reportedly was
good-natured and possessed a brilliant sense-of-humor,
perhaps another way
to hide her inner suffering. Reportedly, she twice attempted
suicide. I've
felt for some years that it's hard for tortured souls like
Rice to write a
breezy novel. The pain, shame and desperation they feel can't
help but leak
into the story. It's this subtle, dark undertone that made
Rice's work
interesting for me to read. Her darkness isn't as easy to
spot as, say,
David Goodis'. But, I think it's there.
#
# To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
majordomo@icomm.ca.
# The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.