Etienne, you're right. I misunderstood you.
>Tss,tss Kevin! Always ready for the wrong
battle...
>Selling is not the point, it's what they write to
sell
>it...
Ah, if only you'd said that the first time around. What you
said was:
>So I suggest that Parker Part II does not
belong
>anymore to the kind of lit we discuss here, as
doesn't
>any other best-seller specialist.
That seemed to imply, or at least I inferred, that you were
saying if a writer reached the best-seller stage, he would
automatically no longer qualify for discussion on this list,
which would disqualify not only Parker, but Ellroy and Lehane
and Leonard and Connelly and Block and a slew of others,
solely on the grounds that they sold too much. But now that
you've clarified your position, it at least makes a bit more
sense.
But, still, if Parker's stuff sold, it was because he had
created a market for it, not because he followed market
demands. There was no market for that kind of private eye
novel before Parker created it, so it's hard to accuse him of
following a trend. And even with all the dreaded cooking and
personal relationships, there is plenty of hard-boiled action
in the Spenser novels, even some of the recent ones. And even
the more recent novels aren't all tripe. Sure, there are some
clunkers in the series (including, perhaps, the one book Juri
has based all his opinions on), but that's the risk of being
prolific. The fact is, the guy knows how to write. And I'm
not even sure Parker really gives a damn about the
marketplace anymore, anyway. I think he just writes the kind
of books he wants to. It's what he does, and what he knows.
And he's always had a bit of a "Who gives a shit?" attitude
towards his critics and the marketplace. Like I said, a Buddy
Holly would have done his rep just fine, but I'm kinda glad
he stuck around.
And Anthony, if you have anything intelligent to say, please
join in the discussion, instead of just sniping at me.
Despite what you may believe, I have no problem with people
holding opposing viewpoints to mine. I actually appreciate
and enjoy a good, well-thought out debate. On my web site, I
even encourage people to contribute opposing views.
Juri, Kerry, Jess, Etienne and I may all disagree about the
relative value and merits of Spenser, but I don't think any
of us have had our delicate little sensibilities damaged so
far.
Sweet of you to be so concerned, though...
--
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.thrillingdetective.com
Now online: Our December issue. The Thrillies. Christmas Gifts. New fiction. And Tim Broderick's ODD JOBS. -- # To unsubscribe from the regular list, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to # majordomo@icomm.ca. This will not work for the digest version. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .
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