Some Fletch novels were better than others, but it was more
than a decade ago that I sat down and finally read the entire
sequence as it then existed
(up through FLETCH, TOO, in order of release), and rather
enjoyed them
(thought FLETCH WON and CONFESS, FLETCH, which spawned the
Flynn series, the best, CARIOCA FLETCH the weakest if also a
good travelogue). Don't know what I might make of them
now...have yet to read SON OF FLETCH.
Caught some of MARK TWAIN, thought it better than the usual
run of Burns docs, too. Did you catch his "lost" story, an
attempt at a round-robin stunt, published in THE ATLANTIC
MONTHLY only a century and a third late, and a not-bad
criminous/fantastic spoof? TM
-----Original Message----- From: Mario Taboada [mailto:
matrxtech@yahoo.com]
Man, when I finally did try a Fletch book, I was bitterly
disappointed. The author was trying really hard to be funny,
but it fell flat on me (to be more precise, it sounded
impossibly silly). I've never read another since. Somebody
must buy this series: Salvation Army stores are full of the
paperbacks. They say that humor is the hardest, and they're
right. Besides, it doesn't age well (Twain and a few others
excepted).
By the way, did anyone else catch the Ken Burns biographical
program on Mark Twain? I thought it was well done,
particularly because it treated Twain's financial problems
and his ultimate loneliness and bitterness in some detail. I
think Burns chose not to speculate on Twain's adoption of
female grandchildren (such speculation appeared in a
biography which, I recall, was thoroughly trashed by Vidal in
the NYRB).
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