Mark Sullivan wrote:
> It's been a long, long time since I've
read
> James Grady's Runner in the Streets, but I remember
there being long
> passages whose only purpose was to proclaim
authenticity, to prove Grady
> had gone on a lot of drivealongs with DC
cops.
I just had a similar experience reading Gary Phillips'
Violent Spring. This story was constantly interrupted to
provide anywhere from one paragraph to pages of essential
background information. The storytelling between these
interruptions was quite good, but I hope my next Phillips
will seamlessly integrate such information into the
story.
> George seems pretty
> transparent to me, his references meant to reveal
something about his
> characters, not himself. And I never get the feeling
that the
> characters think of their music taste, for instance,
as anything but
> normal.
I too was surprised by the earlier criticism of Pelecanos
work on this account. I've read just the one Pelecanos novel
and didn't feel displaced despite the fact I've experienced
just one mythic, whirlwind tour through central D.C. I caught
none of Pelecanos musical references, and can't remember them
now, but nevertheless their titles and context did help me to
place the characters, their approximate ages and interests. I
hadn't heard the names of the Washington suburbs named in the
novel before either, but I have now and it seems rather sad
(though hardly unique) that they are named only for their
geographical proximity to someplace else. So I've learned
something about Washington by reading Pelecanos. That I feel
somewhat disatisfied in this regard implies to me that I
should read more of his stuff.
Much better to do that than get a set of Coles Notes
appendixed to each book, or revert to reading stuff written
for that large but elusive audience known as the "lowest
common denominator".
Kerry
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