----- Original Message ----- From: "JIM DOHERTY" <
jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com>
> > John Wainwright: DIG THE GRAVE AND LET HIM LIE
-
> > Jim claims that Wainwright
> > "doesn't belt it out of the park every time he
steps
> > up to bat." This was a
> > fresh-air shot (don't know the baseball
terminology,
> > sorry).
>
> Is "fresh-air shot" a Cricket term? And if so,
does
> that mean you liked it or not? This is a Wainwright
I
> haven't read yet.
I know cricket terminology only slightly better than I know
baseball terminology, Jim. I don't know which sport inspired
the phrase, but a
"fresh-air shot" is one in where you miss the ball
completely. Ergo, no, I didn't like it at all. I'll look out
for ALL ON A SUMMER'S DAY, though. I'll happily give
Wainwright another shot.
> In a recent article (in fact, it may have been
the
> intro to a reprint edition of KILLER'S CHOICE)
McBain
> reveals that he introduced Hawes at the behest
of
> Pocket Books (the origianl publisher of the
series),
> which wanted a handsome, unmarried
character
> introduced to take over Carella's
"first-among-equals"
> position. The theory was that readers would
respond
> better to a hero who was more like a bachelor
private
> eye than a suburban schlub, however gorgeous his
wife.
> Apparently, McBain had misgivings about this, and
it
> probably showed in the finsihed book.
When he came over to Glasgow last year he spoke about this.
Apparently his publishers envisaged Cotton Hawes becoming the
series's main character, his appeal (and availability -
despite being a fictional character - he was single, unlike
Carella) to women inspiring romantic titles along the lines
of "Cotton and Silk" (if only Ed McBain used real placenames,
Cotton could have gone to Harlem).
BTW, I bought John Galvin's BOG WARRIORS last time I was in
Ireland. Like yourself, though, I haven't got round to
reading it yet.
Al
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 02 Oct 2002 EDT