Bill,
I read COTTONWOOD in a number of incarnations, including the
final version. They were all terrific. If you liked the
previous books, you should love Cottonwood. It's pure Scott
Phillips - which is to say, pure down and dirty fun. It
doesn't matter what year Scott places his stories, the
characters are always up to no good, and there is always dark
humor at the heart of the mayhem. Scott's experimentations
with language and plot continue to amaze me. And he has the
power to crack you up and touch your heart in the same
paragraph. I think Cottonwood is a masterpiece. I hope people
don't stay away from it because of the historical label. And
I think it manages to be both hard boiled and noir while
juggling quite a few more balls in the air - although I must
admit that I use those terms far more loosely than some on
the list.
TL
P.S. - I too have enjoyed Jim Sallis' presence on the list
this month. But just because Jim Sallis month has come to a
close, does that mean Jim Sallis must leave us? Can't you
stick around, Jim?
> [Original Message]
> From: William Denton <
buff@pobox.com>
> To: RARA-AVIS <
rara-avis@icomm.ca>
> Date: 2/29/04 6:13:40 PM
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: New Scott Phillips
>
> Scott Phillips wrote THE ICE HARVEST (2000) and THE
WALKAWAY (2002), both
> of which are excellent and I highly recommend,
especially the first one if
> you like old Gold Medal paperback originals. I was
wondering today when
> his next book would be out, and it turns out it just
got released this
> month: COTTONWOOD.
>
> PUBLISHERS WEEKLY's review of it begins, "Western
epic, black comedy and
> soft porn are cleverly spliced in this genre-bending
offering from
> Phillips, which relates the experiences of Bill
Ogden, sometime farmer,
> sometime saloon-owner, sometime photographer in
1870s Kansas. Ogden, 27,
> is a self-taught Greek and Latin scholar and a
sexual libertine capable of
> seducing almost any woman he encounters."
>
> Have any of you rare birds read it yet? It sounds
like he didn't want to
> do a third HB/noir book--not that that'll stop me
from reading it, of
> course.
>
> Bill
> --
> William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/
: Caveat
lector.
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