Mark wrote:
> I just got back from one of my favorite used
bookstores. I picked up:
>
> Bondi Blues by John Baxter -- Stuart Coupe (whoever
he is) wrote two
> blurbs: "Hardboiled as all hell . . . and sometimes
really funny" and
> "The talk is that Bondi Blues will set new standards
for the
Australian
> crime novel. The talk is right." Well, this came out
in 1993. Did
it?
> I know next to nothing about Australian cime novels,
just Peter Corris
> and a Mask Noir title, "Dark Angel."
Unfortunately I'm probably no more (& quite possibly
less) au fait with Aussie crime novels than you are but I
personally would not take his opinions too seriously -
especially re: Aust crime fiction of that era. Coupe was the
editor of a sem-pro zine then that received almost all of its
advertising revenue (& possibly other finance) from
Australian publishers. To paraphrase Mae West, he never met
an Aussie crime novel that he didn't like. Conflict of
interest is the phrase that comes to mind. Having said that,
I have no reason to believe that the Baxter book is not a
good one - I just wouldn't take Coupe's word for it (or
anything else but now where headed into personal territory).
I am curious as towhat you thought of DARK ANGEL, (by John
Dale?)
Mark, - what little I know of this one makes it sound
very interesting. What did you think of that one? I'd also be
curious as to your reaction to BONDI BLUES - your opinion
(& that of the other rare-birds) I do respect. (On a side
note, Bondi is the suburb I mostly grew up in & I still
live only about 2-3 miles away).
Rene
>
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