Re: RARA-AVIS: Gold Medal: Lament for a Virgin

From: James Reasoner ( james53@flash.net)
Date: 07 Aug 2002


> I'm pretty sure it was Donald Westlake, and I'm also pretty sure his
comment
> on White's prose style was slightly more damning. I can't remember the
> source, but Westlake went on to cite the kidnappers who used "The
Snatchers"
> as a template as evidence of White's plotting power.
>
> Al

Now that I think about it, I believe you're right, Al. Didn't Westlake also write a book about real criminals using a fictional crime as the basis for a caper? And to make the joke more convoluted, the fictional crime was from a Richard Stark book?

I think one of Ed Gorman's articles about Gold Medal mentions that a Lionel White book was the first Gold Medal he ever bought. And the old man running the candy store where Ed bought it said something like "Pretty racy stuff for a kid, ain't it?"

Not to disagree with Westlake about White's style, but I enjoy a book that gets on with what it's doing.

Best, James

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