Today I ran across The Straight Man by Kent Nelson. I looked
at it, read the back and was wavering when I noticed it was a
Black Lizard book, even though its cover was like no Black
Lizard I've ever seen. Its copyight was also earlier than
those of the few other Black Lizards they had. Is this the
first in the line? Is it the only one with a different cover
style? (Yes, I know the color of the spines changed, but the
overall look stayed prety much the same.) I searched the
archives and see that it was thought that Barry Gifford might
have written it, but he said it was actually someone elese's
pseudonym. Gifford's Port Tropique was in the line. He was
also Black Lizard's editor, wasn't he? For how long? The
entire Creative Arts run? Also, the copyright page for The
Straight Man says: "This project is supported in part by a
grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington,
DC, a Federal agency." I'm not sure if that refers to this
one book or Black Lizard got started with a Federal grant. If
the latter, I'm happy to see a small bit of my tax dollars
went to such a worthy project.
I also picked up Gun, Drugs and Monsters, a Cal McDonald
mystery by Steve Niles. Niles has gotten mixed response in
the archives.
Oh yeah, at the same place, I saw a smutty novel called
Kitty, by TS Boyd. Is Boyd really anyone who went on the more
fame? Should I go back for the book?
I also saw a novel by Bernard Wolfe. I nly know him for
cowriting Really the Blues with Mezz Mezzrow. Are his solo
books any good?
Mark
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