Re: RARA-AVIS: you're HOW old?

From: Mark Sullivan ( AnonymeInc@WEBTV.NET)
Date: 06 Jan 2000


Duane wrote:

<<I didn't really get into Rara Avis-type material until college, when I wandered into a bookshop in downtown Philly called Whodunnit?, owned by one Art Bourgeau (as I later discovered, the author of THE MYSTERY LOVER'S COMPANION.)>>

Bourgeau also wrote several paperback originals, featuring two guys, Snake and I forget the other guy's name. I was disappointed by the first (A Lonely Way To Die? I'm not sure), especially since its jacket had the audacity to compare the pair to Rockford and Angel. I have no idea why I went on to the next, which was just enough better to get me to the third. That and the fourth The Cheating Heart Motel and, especially, The Elvis Murders were a hoot. The latter takes place at an Elvis Impersonators convention. Now, risking doing the same thing that Rockford comparison did to me, they are somewhat similar to Lansdale's Hap and Leonard in lackadaisical good ole boy attitude, but they're played more for laughs, leaving out Lansdale's dark night of the soul stuff. This, of course, is what makes Lansdale so much better in my mind, but those two books by Bourgeau aren't bad if you are in the mood for a very quick, very light, fun read.

I never got around to reading Bourgeau's thriller.

Mark

--
# To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca.
# The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 07 Jan 2000 EST