I think it's probably a good idea to be a bit less defensive
about the crime/noir/underclass genre, whenever this hoary
debate comes around. Noir writers do what they do, and some
do it damn damn well. There are also a number of utterly
unreadable navel-gazing "literary" novels (The Corrections,
anyone?)--but there are also people like Robert Stone (the
early books) and a dozen others who write superb hard-edge
fiction that has all the features I love about noir. I read
Richard Ford's "The Ultimate Good Luck" over and over (If you
love noir you really must read this) and marvel at it and I
can't stand his later stuff about real estate sales. Jesus. I
love fiction about a person thrust out into an ambiguous
world of danger, addressing the really great moral issues of
any time, and...well...you can guess what I hate. John
Shannon
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