Zomboy wrote of JDM:
>for some reason, he usually feels obligated to throw
in some do-good
characters
>(Our Heroes) who cause the books to drag like a soap
opera
Astute observation. In this respect, he stands outside the
Florida tradition of crime fiction -- which, from its infancy
in the pulps, was characterized by the use of antiheroes or
morally ambiguous protagonists to a far greater extent than
any other regional "school" of writing -- yet he is probably
still the author most identified with the state. From all
accounts, John D was a "proper" man, with deeply ingrained
notions of right or wrong. There is a fairly well-known
anecdote of him trying to punch out a fellow Liars' Lunch
member because the man used profanity in front of a woman,
which enraged MacDonald. It's not hard to imagine such a man
being more comfortable with clearly-defined, traditionally
heroic protagonists.
He occasionally used flawed heroes, but not often. Park
Faulkner, the people-manipulator and sybarite who some
consider to be the prototype for Travis McGee, can lay no
claim to moral superiority. And Sam Bryce, the hero of WHERE
IS JANICE GANTRY? is deeply compromised by his past. The
narrator of DEAD LOW TIDE, whose name escapes me at the
moment, comes across as being naive to the point of
stupidity.
But these are exceptions. Most of JDM's heroes were
traditionally heroic types.
That said, I have to admit that WHERE IS JANICE GANTRY? and
DEAD LOW TIDE are two of my favorite MacDonald novels, along
with THE DROWNER, THE CROSSROADS, and SLAM THE BIG
DOOR.
I think his non-series work is far superior to the McGees.
Hell, I even like MURDER IN THE WIND. True, it's more
melodrama than mystery, but no one -- before or since -- has
ever described the fury of a major hurricane more
convincingly or with greater art. PB
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