Okay, while I probably agree with much of Bob's particular
taste in hardboiled/noir, I've got to quibble with his
depiction of that taste. It's just a taste. As a character in
"Bright Lights Big City" once said, "Taste, after all, is a
matter of taste."
Taste is relative. And the bestselling mentality is always
going to be railed against by those who feel their favorite
books are not getting their due. However, the terms of the
complaints sometimes change. For instance, Neil's "too much
kneejerk psychology to neatly explain away complex or, often,
unexplainable things" (a complaint with which I agree, by the
way) is a very contemporary complaint. As matter of fact,
that might describe a large portion of "good books" of the
'50s, when the complaint about bestselling fiction -- some of
which we hail here, like the Gold Medals -- was that there
was no psychology, just action.
Also, I think the key word in the description of Lehane,
Pelecanos and Ellroy is attention. With the possible
exception of Ellroy, has that attention translated to sales?
Are any of these bestsellers? Definitely not in the Grisham
range.
Finally, is this bestselling fiction really trying to sell
itself as hardboiled? I think it's probably pretty telling
that when someone asks what you are reading and you reply, A
mystery, they seldom think of hardboiled, to such a degree
that many of us have tried to come up with other genre names
(crime novel, PI novel, hardboiled/noir, etc) in order to
forestall the clarifying discussion when they reply, Oh I
just read the latest Grisham or Baldacci. I don't think
hardboiled is a particular selling point in the current
market. I think the soft core we are both complaining about
has become the main appeal, as it seems to reassure readers
that those values are important and will protect them from
the hard world outside.
Neil wrote:
"But what really gets USA Today notice and People magazine
notice are the books that don't challenge as much as confirm
the things American society finds interesting right
now."
I don't know, but to say that the most popular fiction of a
day confirms the status quo strikes me as somewhat
tautological.
Now it may just be my punk background, but I for one kind of
like the fact that my fave reading material is a bit off to
the side, is not in the mainstream, is even a little frowned
upon.
Mark
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