Haven't read any Pronzini's fiction, so I can't comment on
that, but I have read some of his entries in a huge
encyclopedia of Mystery fiction entitled the St. James Guide
(I think). They're very well done -- Pronzini obviously knows
the field well and can speak intelligently about it. (He has
also contributed to the St. James Encylopedia of Western
fiction, where he's equally interesting. Again, not sure of
the title
-- read these in a library).
I agree, too, that he's an excellent editor.
Doesn't pay, in my opinion, to get overexcited about comments
like the Pronzini one under discussion. Ain't nobody in the
world exempt from making dumb comments, and that's all this
is, a dumb comment. It's just Mr. Pronzini's bad luck to have
his dumb comment immortalized in print for the rest of us to
laugh at.
doug
--- Bob Toomey <
btoomey@javanet.com> wrote:
>
> Don't think I'd call Pronzini a childish
writer.
> Dull, maybe, but not
> childish. And some of his short stories are
vaguely
> amusing.
>
> On the other hand, despite his
questionable
> pronouncements on
> hardboiled, he has served very honorably as
an
> editor of anthologies,
> doing good work in preserving stories that
would
> otherwise have vanished
> without a trace.
===== Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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