Gerald wrote: While never as iconoclastic as Bethany, in the
early books--THE GODWULF MANUSCRIPT through A SAVAGE
PLACE--Spenser was the underpaid, principled outsider.
Now if you've read the early Spenser and always thought
Spenser a yuppie, that's another thing.
********* And fine principles they were, bedding both mom and
daughter in one single book. ;-) I haven't read any of the
recent ones. Good god. He's driving a Bronco, drinks wine,
and has a rich girlfriend? Well, he was an epicurean in the
first book. And well-read, too. He knew the source of
(paraphrased) "Give up hope all ye who enter". Benching 350,
sipping on a Rothchilde 1856, and quoting Dante. A true
Renaissance man if ever there was one.
Being literate is a time-honored hardboiled tradition, isn't
it? Even Daly's Race Williams made literary references. I
wish I could remember exactly what. It was in SNARL OF THE
BEAST.
But I think the book I'm on now tops them all for quantity.
In the first 30 pages he mentions Thomas Mann's MAGIC
MOUNTAIN, T.S. Eliot's WASTELAND, Farrell's STUDS LONIGAN,
Dostoyevsky, MOBY DICK, and Gaddis's RECOGNITIONS. Anybody
want to venture a guess at the title?
And by the way, is RECOGNITIONS hardboiled?
miker
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