Jim wrote:
>I just heard that Joseph Hansen passed
away.
>
>Very few people since Hammett and Chandler and
have
>brought something truly new to the hard-boiled
PI
>story, but Hansen is certainly one of those
few.
>
>His novels and stories about gay insurance
detective
>Dave Brandstetter were praised for being
>ground-breaking, but, aside from that, they were
just
>damned good PI stories. Well-written,
>well-characterized, well-plotted.
>
>He'll be missed.
That IS sad. The Brandstetter books were always favourites of
mine, although I admit it originally took a bit to get over
prejudices I didn't even know I had (Hey, I was a stupid
young man when I first read them).
One thing I really liked about them was their terseness, and
the staccato jumps forward between chapters -- he assumed
readers would be smart enough to make the plot leaps along
with him, and as a result the books often moved very quickly.
if only today's writers trusted thewir readers that much, we
wouldn't have so many bloated 400-page turkeys.
A few years ago, on this list, I pondered aloud about a
rumour I'd heard that he wasn't gay. He wrote me to assure me
that that was not the case, and then thanked me for the kind
words on my site. The letter is reprinted on my site, for
those of you who are interested.
--
Kevin Burton Smith
The Thrilling Detective Web Site Holiday Issue New stories and the 2004 Thrillies. http://www.thrillingdetective.com
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