Re: RARA-AVIS: Ross Thomas & Leonard

From: Keith Alan Deutsch ( keithdeutsch@earthlink.net)
Date: 05 May 2000


Mario--

I like Leonard very much. His westerns are great, too. But Thomas' characters (vilains included) are much more engaging to me. I think Thonas' Durango novel is the closest he came to writing like Leonard.

In my opinion, Thomas is a much more complex narrator who presents a more fully realized world view (and makes you laugh at it) in his finest novels.

Leonard has a great talent for releasing a driving narration with implicit violence in dialogue and characters that keeps me reading on. Leonard can be funny, too,

But not with the sophistication of Thomas.

Keith

Mario Taboada wrote:

> Just a warning that I've been rereading Ross Thomas and may bore the hell out
> of everyone here by singing the praises of this marvellous author. His
> _Chinaman's Chance_, in particular, is a classic book. I had underestimated
> Thomas, but a comment here some months ago (by Bill Crider, I think) led me to
> read him again. Why's is there so much talk about Elmore Leonard and so little
> about Thomas, who's at least as good?

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