Congrats on the reading fest, Jeff. I'd suggest Malcolm Braly
as a writer who was as talented and consistent as Williams
(although how much is talent, and how much is hard work and
good editing, I wouldn't know). Braly's not as prolific as
Williams, having died young, but he could write with the best
of them. ON THE YARD is his masterpiece, the mother of all
prison novels. It's currently in print in the NYRB Classics
series with an intro by Jonatham Lethem.
I'm a big Day Keene fan, too, though he was perhaps a better
storyteller than he was a writer, and some of his books (of
which there are many) are disappointing, though never
anywhere near as bad as bad Brewer. But he wrote at least
half a dozen I'd consider among the very best of the
PBOs.
Al
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Vorzimmer"
<jvorzimmer@...> wrote:
>
> Well, I just finished the last three books of
Charles Williams--
The Wrong
> Venus, And the Deep Blue Sea and Man on a Leash. I
finally made it
through
> all 22 of his books and I must say it was a
pleasure. Not a bad
book in the
> lot. With that said I must his last three novels
have more in
common with
> each other than the rest of his books.
>
> All three books have to do with international
espionage, they have
extremely
> intricate plots and they are not as well written and
edited as his
previous
> 19 books, but nonetheless they are good reads. Man
on Leash was
particularly
> interesting in that it was way ahead of its time
with its
inclusion of
> sophisticated electronics and explosives. Williams
anticipates
movies such
> as the Die Hard series, Firewall, etc. by 30 years.
All three
books are
> pretty far out and really push the limits of
plausibility, but,
because
> Williams wrote so well and was so knowledgeable
about what he
wrote, you go
> along with it. But I also had the feeling while
reading these
books that he
> was probably drunk when he wrote some of the
passages in these
books.
>
> All Williams' books are well worth reading with
maybe the
exception of The
> Wrong Venus, which I had trouble following at times.
Although it's
a crime
> novel, it is a comedy, but the humor is not as
interesting or as
funny as
> his Sagamore books (which I think are worthy of Mark
Twain). It's
not bad,
> but not up to the caliber of his other
books.
>
> I hope I can find another Gold Medal author who was
as talented
and as
> consistent as Williams. I think Harry Whittington
comes close and
some of
> Gil Brewer's best are every bit as good as the best
of Williams
and have a
> similar feel. Any suggestions?
>
> Jeff
>
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