What’s with you, kid? You think the death of Raymond Chandler left an opening in the Rat Pack?
Im amused that my pick for Home Sweet Home’s bingo square, Bloomfield Hills Michigan’s own Elmore Leonard, spends about two lines on Detroit before moving the action to California, in this apparent sequel to Out of Sight. I dunno. It was a buck and I needed that home square space, I saw the movie when I was in middle school, but I remember the plot points neatly called back to in the hero’s retrial in this book well enough to ID it as a sequel.
This was pretty entertaining for a book about hard boiled men and the harder boiled women who bend them to their will, but I’m full up on that particular genre, thanks. I mean, Leonard does a good job making his female characters distinct, but they’re all still male fantasies, even when they’re busting balls. Like, the slightly realistic ex wife is supposedly kinda past her prime and is 140 pounds at 5’7. Ha! What? Noooo. Elmore Leonard, even if you looked like Clooney when he played your dashing hero (and sorry bro, but nope) it’d be hella shitty to judge women on that tight a curve.
Anyway, ex cons, double crosses, twists, turns, femmes fatale… it’s like when I watched The Searchers and thought “yup, this is one of the all time best examples of the form, and I’m still just kinda interested.” I’ll take my noir in black and white, where the social politics are still not ok, but at least not modern.
“I’ll take my noir in black and white, where the social politics are still not ok, but at least not modern.”
Well-said on that last line. I often have the same feeling, and now I have words to explain it.
I’m never sure if men just have no idea how to judge women’s weight or they really want them to be anorexic. I remember reading The Pelican Brief where the character was 5’8′ and 110 lbs and she was described as slim and attractive. I was around 13 at the time and already around that height but definitely above that weight. It’s kind of weird the random details that make a mark!