RARA-AVIS: Re: The Tough Cookie Crumbles

From: Gonzalo Baeza (gbaeza@gmail.com)
Date: 08 Jun 2009

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    Nathan Cain recently wrote a nice review of the novel (indiecrime.blogspot.com). While I enjoyed it and actually bought the book on the strength of that first chapter I read on your website (btw, what a bunch of great unpublished writers you've lined up), I must say I think the novel's a far cry from Jim Thompson. The violence and the characterizations are caricaturesque and the author can't seem to strike a balance between the outlandish humor and telling a story from the point of view of a sociopath (one recent novel that accomplishes this pretty effectively is Iain Levison's Since the Layoffs). In spite of the rough spots, I think it's an entertaining first novel . I'll be on the lookout for more Flexer and New Pulp Press titles.

    -Gonzalo

    --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Allan Guthrie" <allan@...> wrote:
    >
    > Can't speak for Dave, but I thought THE DISASSEMBLED MAN was the closest
    > thing to a Jim Thompson novel I've read that wasn't actually written by
    > Thompson. I posted an extract of the book on my website long before the book
    > was scheduled to be published. It was a blind submission. I'd never had any
    > contact with the author before. I posted the extract because I liked it. A
    > lot. And when I read the book, I gave a heads up on it to quite a few people
    > I thought would also enjoy it. In general, they did. It's not for everyone,
    > any more than Jim Thompson is. Taste is a peculiar thing.
    >
    > Al
    >
    > ----- Original Message -----
    > From: "Kevin Burton Smith" <kvnsmith@...>
    > > Like, did you actually read THE DISASSEMBLED MAN or just give them a
    > > blurb? Or did they just use your name without telling you? I notice
    > > they've removed your blurb from the Amazon page.
    >



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