This is only my third day, but I'm quickly beginning to understand that nobody truly reads these things. Oh well, that's not going to stop me. Today I'm going to turn my attention to the literary world. During my junior high and high school days, I was a huge fan of mystery and horror novels. I read every Stephen King book that I could get my hands on and raced through the works of Elmore Leonard, Richard Price, Stephen Hunter, etc. My passion for this genre disappeared for awhile until a good friend of mine in graduate school (a sweet, young man from somewhere in Maine) recommended a book titled King Suckerman by George Pelecanos. I remember thoroughly enjoying reading this book during an especially harsh Boston winter. Unfortunately, I can't tell you too much about the book today, but it did entice me to then read The Big Blowdown, which I also enjoyed.
Fast forward to years later and I'm browsing through a used bookstore in Encinitas and I come upon another Pelecanos book. I have been slightly following his career and am a huge fan of The Wire. This book, titled Shoedog, was a fun read. It reminded me why I liked reading this genre in the first place. Pelecanos is great with describing his seedy characters and always makes me feel like the action is taking place all around me. Shoedog reminded me of Sunset Boulevard (one of my favorite films) through its flashback narration where you almost know the ending at the beginning, but still stick around for all the twists and turns. Now I find myself searching for more Pelecanos material.
Unfortuantely, I rode the wave a little too long and picked up another of the hard boiled crime genre at this wonderful little bookstore. I wondered what it would be like to test one of the new releases from Stephen King. The Colorado Kid is a little paperback that was obviously written for a specific publisher and probably pumped out on a computer in mere days. I think Stephen King has passed his prime (something tells me that I'm not the only person in that camp). He should've retired after his blockbusters: Pet Semetary, The Dead Zone, Thinner, Misery and his wonderful book of short stories that included The Body and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. I guess not everyone can walk away from their careers at their apex (except Michael Jordan of the Chicago White Sox). I digress.
For those of you that truly enjoy well written, graphically violent books than I highly recommend an Italian author named Massimo Carlotto. Only a few of his books have been translated into English and the one that I read is titled Death's Dark Abyss. It is quite unnerving at times, but if you have the stomach for that type of thing than this is for you.
I would like to end this blog back at the beginning. I mentioned my good friend from Maine and today is the perfect day to do so. I would like to pass along an extremely heartfelt Happy Birthday to my two sisters living under his roof. I miss them terribly and only hope that they still remember me. And on a similar note, I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to my Papa. I would also like him to know that I'm sending him a lifetime supply of Playboys and a big screen TV so we can watch all the games together when I get there. September 20th is a very important day!
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2 comments:
Coming from "a sweet, young man from somewhere in Maine," I can say that Pelicanos is a unique talent, but I also enjoy the prose of Mr. Miller. The girls are doing fine, and miss their bro'. (As do your adopted parents). To me, Pelicanos is writing the kind of book that Tarantino should be making into movies. The leading men are super cool, the action is sudden and severe, and the story is conventional, but not predictable, and always satisfying.
To be extremely honest, I don't remember your name, but thanks for the positive feedback. I think your comment about Pelecanos writing the kind of material that Tarantino should be turning into film is absolutely genius. I thank you for tuning in and encourage you to read some Massimo Carlotto.
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