I just love getting emails with Motel Noir in the subject line. I think there's something inherently noir about motels. I was just reading a Stark novel, and Parker thinks about how, while he's working, he likes motels where they take his cash, show him the ice machine and leave him alone. And I think of motels as places where people can be anonymous, like those motels on the coast where the Black Dahlia went for her various assignations. Or all those motels along the El Camino Real, the old ones with keys attached to diamonds of plastic requesting that you drop it in a mailbox if you forgot to turn it in, the motels with fake Spanish tile roofs that all seemed to be named El Rancho.
Here in the town where I'm currently living, an old motel with the name Angel Motel was torn down and replaced with a KFC. Maybe better for the local economy, but not so good for storytelling opportunities. Well, we've still got the Buckeye Budget Inn on the edge of town.
Lawrence
________________________________________
From: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com [rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kent Morgan [tkmorgan@shaw.ca]
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 2:35 PM
To: Rara-Avis
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Motel Noir
While it's books with a motel setting that Ron Clinton is looking for, I
can't help thinking that he and others on the list would enjoy the photo
series titled The Life and Times of the American Motel that has been running
on the blog If Charlie Parker was a Gunslinger, There's be a Whole Lot of
Dead Copycats. Motel #11 was posted July 5th. The website is
http://tsutpen.blogspot.com/
Kent Morgan
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