> Do you really think Crumley is working "against the
grain,"
> though? I see him as another step along the way, but
firmly rooted in
> the tradition. For instance, I've always thought of
The Last Good Kiss
> as an expanded and permutated version of the center
portion of The Long
> Goodbye, Marlowe's search for Roger Wade. I can't
see Chandler ever
> coming up with a character like Fireball Roberts,
though.
I think the "knight errant" quality of Marlowe is missing
from Milo and Sughrue. They seem to stumble through cases
rather than pursue justice, making them Bizarro Marlowes or
something. So I have always looked at Crumley's work as a
response to the PI tradition that is part of it at the same
time. You're right about Fireball, though.
and in response to miker:
>and neil... who the heck is crumley?
James Crumley wrote these fantastic detective novels: The
Wrong Case, Dancing Bear, The Last Good Kiss, The Mexican
Tree Duck (okay, it was sketchy but good), and Bordersnakes.
He sticks his loners in the American West and lets them drink
infinite amounts of alcohol. Weirdness all over the place.
He's a national treasure. The next book is done but is being
held back a while (right, D Mc?).
Neil
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