Blue Murder strikes me as a poor example of what makes Bellem enjoyable (for some of us) to read.
The best Dan Turner stories are so packed with lunatic colloquial inventiveness that they pretty much defy description and must be experienced.
I've laughed harder at some of Bellem's passages than I ever laughed at Wodehouse's. And I love Wodehouse.
John
________________________________
From: Patrick King <abrasax93@yahoo.com>
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, December 2, 2009 1:51:41 AM
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: Harlequin
Of your list, I am also very fond of Bellem. I think he was an original, and he makes me laugh hard. He must have done something right... Some of his plots seem written by a madman.
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That's putting it mildly. I doubt he plotted BLUE MURDER at all, just wrote it stream of consciousness and let it do whatever it did without too much input from him. The story makes no sense. I suppose you can laugh at it, but if I'm looking for laughs I'd rather read Wodehouse. In reading BLUE MURDER, I actually thought Bellem might be a woman spoofing the macho style of the time. I've been assured I'm wrong about that. I can't believe anyone published that book.
Patrick King
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