if my top five were who i think they were, they were
willeford cain crumley pelecanos thompson
if this is the case, here are my top suggestions for each -
if this ISN'T the case, who cares.
willeford - i like the hoke books, but also feel that if you
read only them you miss a great deal of what willeford was
all about. so i recommend also the burnt orange heresy, the
woman chaser, cockfighter, the black mass of brother springer
- these are not hb books, of course, but reading w's other
works adds to your appreciation of the hokes. it elucidates
one, don't you know. and any way, willeford is NOT a hb
writer, but he works his way in there anyway.
cain - although it has been years since i reread cain, i know
for certain that mildred pierce was the one that got me (my
being female may be the thing there, as few hb writers can do
justice to a female character. not even female hb writers. in
my humble and ignorant opinion. i continue to seek a
contemporary female hb writer who works for me, but that's
another matter-)
crumley - i like everything i've read of mr. crumley's. even
if i give the thing a less than perfect score when i'm done,
there is always a core of truly good writing, character and
plot development that will ensure i continue to read whatever
he writes. bordersnakes, for example, has some pretty
nauseating things in it - i mean, i hate to think of any guy
having to have that needle treatment - things a squeamish
thing like me doesn't want to have to dwell on - but because
c's use of violence is so well done, so non-gratuitous, and
so clearly visible, i don't let it (my instinctive recoiling
from such awful things) interfere with my enjoying his books.
crumley has a new book almost finished, as yet untitled, to
be published some time next fall or winter. Milo in
Texas.
pelecanos - well i love everything george pelecanos has
written. his ear for how people speak is deadeye. (how's that
for an interesting mix of metaphors?) and i can repeat what i
said about crumley, in his presentation of violence. i like
pelecanos esp. because he is at heart a literary writer, and
always improving, and look forward to what he will write in
the future that is not genre-bound. which i can also say
about crumley. they are both realities-unto-themselves but
share these things in common. pelecanos is someone to ask
your library to acquire.
thompson - i think i mentioned that i feel a direct
connection between thompson and flannery o'connor. thompson
always conveyed a night-of-the-soul quality; that is why i
read all of his stuff, novels and autobio, straight through
without stopping. i have always been comfortable with that
existential and lonely kind of world. (yes i had a perfectly
good upbringing and my parents are proud of me.) but the
attraction one can feel for a dark, difficult time that still
holds humor - this is what thompson masters so well. as does
willeford. flannery o'connor. i feel the constant mention of
pop. 1280 does thompson disservice, because lou ford's
brashness and extroverted personality are very different from
the characteristics of many other thompson protagaonists. i
like pop 1280, don't misunderstand, but i would like people
to know thompson was a writer of much larger scope than
simply a guy who cranked out some good psychos. his
autobiographical stuff -- bad boy, roughneck, heed the
thunder, south of heaven - is excellent.
http:/www.dennismcmillan.com
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