I have been on the rara-avis list for the last several months
and have enjoyed the posts. I have not felt compelled to post
until now.
Charles, I have been a big fan of the entire Hard Case line.
Kudos to you and your team for a great selection as well as
the classy packaging and respect for the source material.
Also, the respect you have shown to your audience (or as
Spillane would say, "customers") is exemplary and greatly
appreciated.
Having said that, I have to say that I agree with you about
many of JDM's novels. I have greatly enjoyed many standalones
such as A Flash of Green and the great Brass Cupcake, but
many have left me feeling patronized and unsatisfied. JDM was
a great professional writer but as one other contributor
noted, he moralized too much. I didn't notice it so much when
I read the Travis McGee's in college, but as the series wore
on and as I randomly pick them up on occasion now, I find
that the smug tone sometimes overwhelms the story.
I felt compelled to respond to Charles because I feel it is
important to honor JDM for his great work, but also to be
honest about our feelings for some of his work that did not
do much for us. Thanks for listening.
Pat Lee
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "hardcasecrime"
<editor@...> wrote:
> As for John D., I have to admit to holding the
somewhat heretical
> view that he wasn't, as the kids would say these
days, all that.
I
> keep reading his books hoping to catch a whiff of
whatever it is
that
> makes other readers I respect go gaga, but it hasn't
happened
yet.
> He was a smooth, solid, professional writer, heaven
knows, but for
> whatever idiosyncratic personal reason, I haven't
yet found a book
of
> his that I really loved. Many have bored me and I've
had to force
> myself to finish; some have held my interest but not
wowed me. So
> while I'd love to add a McDonald title to our line
for iconic
reasons
> if nothing else, it's going to have to wait till I
come across one
> that happens to push my buttons just
right.
>
> Apologies to all the passionate McDonald fans I've
just
horrified. I
> know you guys would probably express confusion over
some of the
> writers I find irresistible. It all boils down to
personal
> preference in the end. And who knows? I spent nearly
40 years
not
> liking broccoli, and now I can't get enough; maybe
in time I'll
> acquire a taste for McDonald, too...
>
> --Charles
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