April 20
One of the unexpected bonuses of writing this blog is that I have come across writers whose work otherwise might have passed me by. One of those is Ed Lynskey, whose name I had not heard until this week. But now I have and I am looking forward to getting a hold of a copy of Ed's second novel, The Blue Cheer, a mystery set in the remote mountains of West Virginia. When I've found it and read it, I'll report back.
In the meantime, Ed has graciously agreed to be the subject of 10 Questions.
Favourite
author:
Wow,
a tough call. I like to reread Charles
Williams, the 1950s Gold Medal books pulp writer. I don’t really concentrate my reading on one
author but prefer to sample from a variety. I mean there are so many and time is always running short.
Though I've not read it in years, A Feast of Snakes by Harry Crews, a hardboiled U.S.
Southern gothic, seethes with the elements of fiction I find electrifying. There’s a parable on American violence and
its grisly aftermath embedded there in the text.
Favourite
character:
Iregularly review books, both crime and literary fiction. Snow Ashes by Alyson Hagy, a tragic saga of two Korean War vets operating a sheep ranch in Wyoming awed me. Lynn Stegner’s poignant Because There Was a Fire in My Head was impressive. The Woods by Harlan Coben is a recent crime fiction standout. The new books by Robert Goddard, Graham Hurley, Jo Bannister, and Reginald Hill have stuck with me, too.
Best
film adaptation:
This winter I watched Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly adapted from
Mickey Spillane’s book by the same title. The noir film bristles with stark scenes and cagey characters. Ralph Meeker playing a creditable P.I. Mike
Hammer is an underrated actor. I believe
Al Pacino gave a top-notch turn in Serpico and Sea of Love (a masterful script by Richard Price).
Author
to watch:
Al
Guthrie, noir extraordinaire from Edinburgh, has an immense talent besides being a great guy watching
your back. There is a plethora of
superior talents. Sean Doolittle, Duane Swierczynski,
and Megan Abbott are others skimmed off the top of my head.