Posts tagged Elmore Leonard

thegirlwhowasthursday asked: Your Tumblr has been an eye opener for me - I've been working my though Chandler et al. and am nearing the end of authors suggested in an earlier post written by you. I was wondering though if you had come across any authors who are basing their noir in the 90's upwards? I would be interested if the genre translates well.

I’m delighted to hear that you’ve taken my suggestions, and I’d be very curious to know which authors you’ve read and what you thought of them.  That might help me extrapolate your preferences to more recent hardboiled/noir fiction.  (And there is a difference between the two terms, as I’ve discussed previously.)

Dennis Lehane has written excellent hardboiled (The Kenzie-Gennaro novels) and noir (Mystic River) fiction recently.  Walter Mosley is most famous for his Easy Rawlins series, which traces the African American detective from 1948 to 1967.  But his more recent Leonid McGill novels have a contemporary setting.  Hard Case Crime publishes a mixture of reprints and original novels.  Some of the original novels are period pieces, but some have modern settings.  

George Pelecanos’ crime novels are very good.  And Elmore Leonard has written a number of good novels since the Nineties started more than twenty years ago.  

I often focus on the classics here on this blog, but I review recent crime fiction at Crime Fiction Lover.  My reviews there may be of some utility.  My ask box is, of course, always open.  And, as always, I invite feedback from readers.  What did I leave out?  What would you recommend, tumblchums?

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It isn’t like I need books. I have plenty, and quite a few I’ve yet to read. But somehow they’re hard to resist. Is it a cliché to compare them to crack? Give me something more addictive, then, you would-be Chandlers.  I would say that it’s more addictive than good bourbon on a warm night, but that would bring up memories I’m happier to let fade.  So I’m going with crack—less guilt for me. And I’m surrounded by crack dens.  I just found out there’s another used bookstore in the area with pulp and hardboiled (they spell it “hard-boiled”) sections.  I’ve managed to resist going there, which is no mean feat.  Just give it time. My resolve is inversely related to my disposable income.   Besides, I haven’t finished the bender from the last den of iniquity I visited.  The local League of Women Voters had a book sale.  Had their latest, I should say.  They’ve been doing it for decades to raise money.  They’ve been having an annual book sale almost as long as there have been women voters.  And I was happy to give them my money. I thought it would probably be worth my while to visit the book sale during one of the three days it was running.  Until two weeks before the sale.  The library was collecting donations and I’d see what people were dropping off when I went there.  I was walking into the library.  There was a trunk, and donated books stacked up in it.  On top of the pile was Megan Abbott’s The Song is You.  I was like Walter Neff seeing Phyllis for the first time.  I had to have that book.  All that noir voluptuousness on the cover was irresistible.   And I didn’t have any of Abbott’s novels.  Unlike other (older) books, they’re readily available.  But it isn’t the same.  Finding a gem at a book sale, used book or thrift store is exciting.  Using Amazon is cheating.  Knowing The Song is You was to be sold might be cheating, too.  A man ought to pick his standards wisely. So I began counting down the days to the book sale.  The first day came.  The sale would be starting at 9 a.m.  I didn’t get there till 10:15.  A large white tent sat in the center of town, and I made a beeline for it.  The mystery section was the largest and busiest part of the sale. Scrutinizing all the books rapidly led me to the conclusion that all mysteries were not created equal.  I wasn’t interested in a cat who did anything.  Espionage novels were lumped in with mysteries.  This was great for Alan Furst and John le Carré, but I didn’t want to deal with Tom Clancy or Brad Thor.  I didn’t even want to stop and consider whether Dan Brown wrote mysteries or not. So I focused on Highsmith, Mosley and Lehane.  I found a dozen or so good books. Most of them just fifty cents.  How could I say no?  But there was no Megan Abbott to be found.  I brought the books home.  Went back later that afternoon.  Some new books out, still innumerable copies of The Da Vinci Code.   Then I found Megan Abbott.  It was in a box under the table, with a myriad of other excess books.  It wasn’t The Song is You.  It was her debut novel, Die a Little.  The cover wasn’t as neat.  But that’s all right.  I’m partial to debut novels, anyhow.   I texted  the book moll to exult.  She replied back with “How many and how much did you spend?”  But she’s a good sport.  She went with me to the sale over the weekend.  Pointed out some Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy books to me.  She may lack joie de vivre, but she knows what I like. And she knows me too well.  Finding Die a Little didn’t stop me from going back twice more, once on Saturday and once on Sunday.  Didn’t stop me from accumulating all the books you see there.  I didn’t need them all.  Didn’t need any of them, probably.  But I didn’t know if I’d run across them again.  I once saw a Mike Shayne pulp novel in a used book store for a couple books and didn’t buy it.  I didn’t realize how few Shayne books were in print.  I still haven’t forgiven myself. But I had a clean conscience when the book sale ended.  I also had fifty-odd books.  You can see them up there, and I’ll be posting about them in the upcoming days.  Keep an eye on the literature porn tag.

It isn’t like I need books. I have plenty, and quite a few I’ve yet to read. But somehow they’re hard to resist. Is it a cliché to compare them to crack? Give me something more addictive, then, you would-be Chandlers.  I would say that it’s more addictive than good bourbon on a warm night, but that would bring up memories I’m happier to let fade.  So I’m going with crack—less guilt for me.

And I’m surrounded by crack dens.  I just found out there’s another used bookstore in the area with pulp and hardboiled (they spell it “hard-boiled”) sections.  I’ve managed to resist going there, which is no mean feat.  Just give it time. My resolve is inversely related to my disposable income.  

Besides, I haven’t finished the bender from the last den of iniquity I visited.  The local League of Women Voters had a book sale.  Had their latest, I should say.  They’ve been doing it for decades to raise money.  They’ve been having an annual book sale almost as long as there have been women voters.  And I was happy to give them my money.

I thought it would probably be worth my while to visit the book sale during one of the three days it was running.  Until two weeks before the sale.  The library was collecting donations and I’d see what people were dropping off when I went there.  I was walking into the library.  There was a trunk, and donated books stacked up in it.  On top of the pile was Megan Abbott’s The Song is You.  I was like Walter Neff seeing Phyllis for the first time.  I had to have that book.  All that noir voluptuousness on the cover was irresistible.  

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Anonymous asked: what is "noir novels?"

I have addressed this point here and here.  Nonetheless, it is a good time to reiterate my view of what noir is, given that I was just questioning the noir bona fides of Stieg Larsson.

Noir is, to some degree, a matter of “I know it when I see it.”  If you read the previous posts, you’ll see that noir developed out of the hardboiled tradition.  Authors like James M. Cain and Cornell Woolrich wrote stories that were as bleak and hard as anything hardboiled (if not more so!), but  did not center on the hardboiled detective. 

There is no Philip Marlowe or Continental Op to set things right in Cain’s writing.  The protagonists are undone by their own desires, just like everyone else.  James M. Cain was an early pioneer of noir, and other notable noir authors include Cornell Woolrich, Dorothy B. Hughes, Jim Thompson, Patricia Highsmith and George V. Higgins.  More recently, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane and James Sallis have all written excellent noir.

In a nutshell, this is what noir fiction is.  It is not film noir, which can be based on a work of literary noir (Double Indemnity, Strangers on a Train), but may also be derived from hardboiled fiction (The Maltese Falcon).  

As always, I invite readers to offer alternate views or clarifications to my own opinion.

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These are exciting days here at Dispatches from Noir.  I am proud to say that I am now the resident American correspondent at Crime Fiction Lover.  CFL is an terrific site where mysteries of all kinds are reviewed, and it also has other excellent features.  Today at Crime Fiction Lover, an interview with Max Allan Collins is hot off the press.  If you’re a fan of Collins, hardboiled crime fiction or Mickey Spillane, you’ll definitely want to check it out.   I began my tenure with Crime Fiction Lover by reviewing Jens Lapidus’ debut novel Easy Money.  I’ve previously talked about the movie Snabba Cash here at Dispatches from Noir.  The movie was very good (and beat the hell out of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), but the book was even better.  Easy Money left me really looking forward to the rest of the Stockholm Noir trilogy.  So go check out my review at CFL.   About a month ago, I was fortunate to see Jens Lapidus during his small American book tour (only 7 US cities) to promote his novel.  I was very impressed as he gave a short lecture about his legal experiences (Lapidus is still a practicing defense attorney) and writing process, then answered questions from the audience.  Lapidus acknowledged that what is termed Scandinavian noir is more or less synonymous with Scandinavian crime fiction.  In contrast to most Scandinavian crime fiction, however, Lapidus can claim definite noir influence.   Among those Jens Lapidus listed as noir influences were James Ellroy, Dennis Lehane and Elmore Leonard.  He also mentioned other hardboiled or noirish authors he enjoyed, such as Raymond Chandler, Walter Mosley and George Pelecanos.  Lapidus’ staccato prose was especially influenced by Ellroy and Chandler, and he freely acknowledged his debt. In short, Lapidus a new author squarely in the noir/hardboiled tradition both thematically and stylistically.  I highly recommend Easy Money.  But I recommend Crime Fiction Lover (including my review of Easy Money) even more highly.  Check out CFL for reviews on all sorts of mysteries, and you can always find my reviews by clicking the CFL Reviews link at the top of every Dispatches from Noir page. You needn’t worry this will take me away from Dispatches from Noir (if any of you find that a worrying thought, which is unlikely). I will still be here and still be talking about noir and answering your questions about it.  I’ve got some good stuff in the works for this week.  Stay tuned!

These are exciting days here at Dispatches from Noir.  I am proud to say that I am now the resident American correspondent at Crime Fiction Lover.  CFL is an terrific site where mysteries of all kinds are reviewed, and it also has other excellent features.  Today at Crime Fiction Lover, an interview with Max Allan Collins is hot off the press.  If you’re a fan of Collins, hardboiled crime fiction or Mickey Spillane, you’ll definitely want to check it out.  

I began my tenure with Crime Fiction Lover by reviewing Jens Lapidus’ debut novel Easy Money.  I’ve previously talked about the movie Snabba Cash here at Dispatches from Noir.  The movie was very good (and beat the hell out of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), but the book was even better.  Easy Money left me really looking forward to the rest of the Stockholm Noir trilogy.  So go check out my review at CFL.  

About a month ago, I was fortunate to see Jens Lapidus during his small American book tour (only 7 US cities) to promote his novel.  I was very impressed as he gave a short lecture about his legal experiences (Lapidus is still a practicing defense attorney) and writing process, then answered questions from the audience.  Lapidus acknowledged that what is termed Scandinavian noir is more or less synonymous with Scandinavian crime fiction.  In contrast to most Scandinavian crime fiction, however, Lapidus can claim definite noir influence.  

Among those Jens Lapidus listed as noir influences were James Ellroy, Dennis Lehane and Elmore Leonard.  He also mentioned other hardboiled or noirish authors he enjoyed, such as Raymond Chandler, Walter Mosley and George Pelecanos.  Lapidus’ staccato prose was especially influenced by Ellroy and Chandler, and he freely acknowledged his debt.

In short, Lapidus a new author squarely in the noir/hardboiled tradition both thematically and stylistically.  I highly recommend Easy Money.  But I recommend Crime Fiction Lover (including my review of Easy Money) even more highly.  Check out CFL for reviews on all sorts of mysteries, and you can always find my reviews by clicking the CFL Reviews link at the top of every Dispatches from Noir page.

You needn’t worry this will take me away from Dispatches from Noir (if any of you find that a worrying thought, which is unlikely). I will still be here and still be talking about noir and answering your questions about it.  I’ve got some good stuff in the works for this week.  Stay tuned!

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Miami Blues is an oddball movie.  It is a beautiful depiction of late-1980s Miami.  Young Alec Baldwin is more endearing than he should be as the homicidal Freddy Frenger.  Fred Ward is dogged and somewhat unsettling as Charles Willeford’s hero, Hoke Moseley.  But as the movie poster reveals, the film loses its (and Moseley’s) hardboiled edge.  It tries too hard to be a comedy. Willeford could be offbeat—he reads like an even grimmer Elmore Leonard.  But that didn’t translate too well in this movie adaptation.

Miami Blues is an oddball movie.  It is a beautiful depiction of late-1980s Miami.  Young Alec Baldwin is more endearing than he should be as the homicidal Freddy Frenger.  Fred Ward is dogged and somewhat unsettling as Charles Willeford’s hero, Hoke Moseley.  But as the movie poster reveals, the film loses its (and Moseley’s) hardboiled edge.  It tries too hard to be a comedy. Willeford could be offbeat—he reads like an even grimmer Elmore Leonard.  But that didn’t translate too well in this movie adaptation.

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alisaczach asked: Even with online book ordering on amazon and other sites, I like to visit bookstores in person. Do you know of any that cater mostly to history and crime drama?

An excellent question!  Bookstores are a declining institution, unfortunately.  Still, they are far from dead, and they offer many delights and advantages which one just cannot get from Amazon.com or eBay. There are indeed a number of bookstores devoted to crime fiction: Mystery Readers International has a list, and you might find one near you. 

Even if not, I would advise just browsing (very frequently) at the bookstores near you.  Especially used bookstores.  Thrift shops are also a great place to find used books.  There’s really no reason to pay full price for a book from Barnes & Noble’s limited mystery section unless you NEED IT RIGHT THEN.  Used bookstores are an excellent place to pick up crime fiction cheaply.  And you’re far more likely to come across a number of fine hardboiled/noir authors (John D. MacDonald, Cornell Woolrich, Richard S. Prather) in a bookstore than in Barnes & Noble. 

Visit all of the used bookstores in your area and see if any tend to carry a particular type of book.  There are two bookstores near me that I can visit to stock up on crime fiction.  One carries a wide variety of pulp and trade paperbacks.  Great if I want to find books from the Hard Case Crime series or older authors like Frederic Brown, George V. Higgins or the aforementioned John D. MacDonald.  The other has great deals on more recent and well-known crime fiction.  So I can find George Pelecanos, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane, Robert B. Parker, James Ellroy, etc.

And libraries are a great (and free!) way to sample literature—which you can then buy if you like.  Libraries also discard books.  If your local library does, you may be able to pick up (sometimes very) used, but serviceable crime fiction—sometimes stuff that is otherwise out of print.

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I had the opportunity to browse the local used book shoppes in the area today, and I founded these half-dozen volumes of hardboiled or noir fiction.  The fact that I have not yet read all of the books in the previous stack did not dissuade me from buying more.  So here is the resulting literature porn.  Troublemaker, Joseph Hansen The Patriot Game, George V. Higgins One Across, Two Down, Ruth Rendell Mermaids on the Golf Course, Patricia Highsmith Chasing Darkness, Robert Crais Exit Music, Ian Rankin I think this collection really shows off the breadth of noir crime fiction.  Sure, you’ve got your usual novel with a private dick based in Los Angeles (Elvis Cole, via the aforementioned Robert Crais). But you’ve also got a Scottish detective (from Rankin), a gay insurance investigator (thanks to Hansen), all sorts of Boston Irish-Catholic characters (in every sense of the word, à la Higgins), darkly comic noir (courtesy of Rendell), and short stories ranging from westerns (Leonard’s contribution) to the skewering of bourgeois secrets (a task for which Highsmith is eminently qualified).  All in all, pretty decent loot.

I had the opportunity to browse the local used book shoppes in the area today, and I founded these half-dozen volumes of hardboiled or noir fiction.  The fact that I have not yet read all of the books in the previous stack did not dissuade me from buying more.  So here is the resulting literature porn. 

  • Troublemaker, Joseph Hansen
  • The Patriot Game, George V. Higgins
  • One Across, Two Down, Ruth Rendell
  • Mermaids on the Golf Course, Patricia Highsmith
  • Chasing Darkness, Robert Crais
  • Exit Music, Ian Rankin

I think this collection really shows off the breadth of noir crime fiction.  Sure, you’ve got your usual novel with a private dick based in Los Angeles (Elvis Cole, via the aforementioned Robert Crais). But you’ve also got a Scottish detective (from Rankin), a gay insurance investigator (thanks to Hansen), all sorts of Boston Irish-Catholic characters (in every sense of the word, à la Higgins), darkly comic noir (courtesy of Rendell), and short stories ranging from westerns (Leonard’s contribution) to the skewering of bourgeois secrets (a task for which Highsmith is eminently qualified).  All in all, pretty decent loot.

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