---
abc@wt.net wrote:
> I've been sitting on the sidelines of the
sidekick
> talk, but I can't resist
> mentioning the fact that Parker has a PhD
in
> English. Considering when
> he recieved the degree, I'd be willing to bet
he
> read Leslie Fiedler's
> LOVE AND DEATH IN THE AMERICAN NOVEL or at least
had
> some idea of what
> it was about. We can carry the light/dark
> hero/sidekick idea right back
> to Natty Bumppo if we want to, and while
Parker
> would probably shudder
> if we said that the real love story in his books
was
> the one between Hawk
> and Spenser, how far off would we be?
Bill, I think you're on target here. I can speak to two
points:
first, Parker has stated on numerous occasions that the roots
of the PI novel lie in Cooper. One such occasion was the
intro to the year's best mystery stories in 1999 or whenever
he was guest editor.
Second, Spenser has a brief conversation with Hawk in one of
the novels--please don't ask which one, I can't remember and
I don't want to look it up--about, you guessed it, Fiedler.
Spenser: "I just read this book by a guy who thinks that guys
like us are suppressing homoerotic impulses." Hawk: "And
doing a good job of it, too." (Please understand that these
are not intended to be direct quotes.) I've always found that
particular exchange pretty funny, as well as packed full of
subtext.
G.
===== George C. Upper III, Editor The Lightning Bell Poetry
Journal http://www.lightningbell.org/
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