Thanks for mentioning Lankford's novel. I had been looking
for something completely off my radar to read, because I've
been in kind of a rut lately, reading the same authors over
and over, and this seemed to be just what the doctor ordered.
I checked Earthquake Weather and Blonde Lightning out of the
library this weekend. I've finished EW, and I thought it was
quite good. Both the setting and characters reminded me of
Robert Ferrigno, although Ferrigno tends to use burnt out
journalists as opposed to burnt out movie types (although
there was that one where Ferrigno had a character similar to
McCoy who got killed, can't remember what it was off the top
of my head.) Anyway, I'm about to start Blonde Lightning and
I have high hopes.
On 10/12/07,
BaxDeal@aol.com <
BaxDeal@aol.com> wrote:
>
> so I had been happily reading a few chapters of Ken
Bruen's The Guards
> every
> evening before turning in, enjoying the man's liquid
prose style, when I
> made
> the big mistake of cracking open Terrill Lankford's
Blonde Lightning and
> proceeded to lose two work days
>
> I'm not necessarily a slow reader and Terrill's text
goes down easy. but I
>
> kept finding myself re-reading so I could hear
William Holden's voice in
> my
> head narrating it to me. because Blonde Lightning is
a crime story in the
> same
> way that Sunset Blvd is. not a mystery per se, more
of a very dark drama
> about the desperate individuals who are attracted to
Hollywood like
> mayflies to
> a buglamp
>
> with similar results
>
> I have to cop to the fact that Sunset Blvd is my
favorite movie of all
> time
> and I identify with Joe Gillis the washed up
screenwriter/gigolo to a
> pathetic
> degree. heck, the look in Ben Affleck's eye before
he blows his brains out
>
> in Hollywoodland still haunts me months later. it's
my default expression
>
> similarly, I find myself looking in a mirror as
exiled development exec
> Mark
> Hayes clings to his sad little dream of making
movies and haunts many of
> the
> same places I've found myself in late at
night
>
> Blonde Lightning not only nails the personalities of
those occupying the
> various social strata in our increasingly
dysfunctional business, it also
> features
> a journalistic play by play of how a small,
independent film is made, and
> the
> things that can go wrong. if you've ever been there,
you can't help but
> nod
> your head and laugh
>
> and yet, the book is not the typical screed most
Hollywood novels are.
> it's
> a riveting thriller, it is emotionally satisfying in
a way that good drama
>
> is, and the plot is as tight as the jeans I used to
wear back in the 70s.
> the
> depiction of Mexico as the end of the road is as
vivid as Kent
> Harrington's
> Tijuana in Dios De Las Muertos. you can smell the
dogshit baking in the
> sun.
> and finally, the denouement proves that you don't
have to be dead, maimed
> or
> in jail at the end to be noir either
>
> sometimes getting what you want qualifies as
well
>
> so, thank you Terrill for getting it
right
>
> I still haven't finished reading The
Guards
>
> John Lau
>
> **************************************
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>
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>
>
>
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