While I enjoy her recent work, which is usually set in the present day, I wish Megan Abbott had written more books with settings in 40s and 50s LA and Vegas. She was really onto something. I suppose comparisons to James Ellroy’s The Black Dahlia are inevitable with this one. Like Ellroy’s work, it’s a murder mystery based on a true murder of a woman working the fringes of Hollywood. But unlike Ellroy, who likes to muse about social affairs and masculinity, this is a straight-up whodunnit. […]
Prophet of Female Rage
Read for CBR Bingo: Inspired by another person’s review. Two things before the review… 1. I was inspired by vel veeter’s review to do this book. vel gave it three stars; they liked it but didn’t love it. I liked it a little more and will explain why below. Here’s vel’s review: http://cbr.bgwdesigns.com/2018/07/do-you-think-it-could-happen-in-real-life-what-for-someone-to-have-no-conscience/ 2. I was fortunate to meet Megan Abbott at a book signing and have her sign it! It was awesome to hear her talk about the book, the process of writing, crime fiction, The […]
“…do you think it could happen in real life?” “What?” “For someone to have no conscience?”
This book is interesting in a lot of ways. For one, it’s a book that does not seem to consider itself having a male audience at all. That doesn’t mean that it’s expressly written for women or a “female audience” but it eschews a kind of default audience or anything that lines up perfectly along those lines. It’s a little hard to put into words, but rather than focusing on a audience, it has a clear voice. There are men in this story, like there […]
I miss you, Secretariat.
Two or three years ago, while we were on vacation in The Berkshires, we spent a day at the Norman Rockwell museum. It was great. We learned a ton about Rockwell and his life and walked around the gorgeous property where he painted. As an added bonus, there was a special exhibit on display, featuring all (or at least a lot) of Edward Hopper’s Cape Cod paintings. This was particularly eye-opening, as I really didn’t know much about Hopper other than that he painted Nighthawks. […]