Sounding the knell for any genre is usually a premature
gesture. The western is passé µntil an extraordinary series
like Deadwood comes along to show how much life there is left
in the old wild west.
Channing is right about modern audiences looking for
something new and different, but this could still be a
private eye novel. There are a couple dozen newer writers of
PI tales, some good, some bad. Depending on their sales (OR
the authors' friendship with his or her editor), they may
have long careers or be gone tomorrow. The heroes may be
traditional (though probably not big fans of trenchcoats or
rye whiskey) or fantasy figures
(dinosaurs, vampires). Their novels may not even be
considered mysteries. Try Robert Littell's Legends, which is
ostensibly a spy novel, even though its protag is a former
spy turned private eye.
As for real private eyes vs. fictional -- the real ones were
never very romantic figures, not even back when Black Mask
was in flower. The jobs that made up most of their business
then were not that different from the work they do now,
except for divorce, which has slacked off. That's been
replaced by investigations initiated by law firms or by
businesses concerned with industrial spying.
Channing asks when the last time was that anybody saw a real
private investigator on the news. Here in Southern California
it's nearly every night. There's a PI named Pelecanos who was
a celebrity sleuth and is being tried for various illegal
acts, notably threats issued against reporters, wiretaps and,
as I recall, illegal weaponry. According to last night's
news, Sylvester Stallone has been added to the witness list
(as a victim, I believe).
My guess is that we may be seeing a fictional private eye or
two on TV in the near future. He may behave a little more
like Angel Martin than Jim Rockford, but it's the thought
that counts.
Dick Lochte
-----------------------------------------------------------
Channing wrote:
I think the days of the trench-coated gumshoe myth has
finally come to an end. He had a great run of 50+ years but I
think modern audiences are looking for something new and
different. The Real Modern P.I. is more of a computer geek
who does most of his leg work in front of a computer
keyboard. His main source of income is divorce cases and
insurance fraud, not very sexy or exciting.
The idea of hiring a private dick to find the missing heiress
is quaint and the modern audience craves something
juicier.
That's why I think more violent occupations have become the
modern fad for books and TV shows. The myth of the P.I. was
replaced by the myth of the sexy superspy in the 60's, which
in turn has been replaced by the myth of the Serial Killer
Profiler.
Cops and lawyers are real. We see them on the news and on
talk shows all the time. But when was the last time anybody
saw a real Private Investigator on the news?
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 19 Feb 2006 EST