Order THE CRIMES OF OUR LIVES here
(also reviewed)
Order THE SINS OF THE FATHERS here
Order IN THE MIDST OF DEATH here
Order TIME TO MURDER AND CREATE here
Order A STAB IN THE DARK here
Order EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE here
If you want to blame someone, try Edgar Allan Poe. He's the guy who started it.
Being a nerd is a misunderstood condition. People think you have to be into science, superheroes, video games or LARPing to earn that title of ironic nobility. Truth to be told, you can be a nerd of everything. There are sports nerds, movie nerds, pop culture nerds and even literature nerds. The perequisite to be member of this exclusive club is the obsessive dedication to a pursuit you only care about. Until you meet someone else who does. I didn't meet anybody as enthusiastic about finding the common denominator of hardboiled fiction as I was before reading a book titled THE CRIMES OF OUR LIVES. That fellow nerd is none other than legendary author of the Matthew Scudder novels, Lawrence Block. It was one of the many unexpected pleasures of reading this unique volume.
It'll take you a couple pages to understand what THE CRIMES OF OUR LIVES is about. There's an introduction, then a series of introduction to several authors, then Lawrence Block starts discussing these authors again, this time in greater detail. So, it's understandable if you're confused at the start, and I don't think a book on the history of hardboiled fiction would've been of any interest if it hadn't been written by freakin' Lawrence Block himself. Block had a built-in credibility to write a book like THE CRIMES OF OUR LIVES because he became an important part of the tradition he's introducing to the reader. There is a direct lineage between the authors featured in the book and Matthew Scudder, Lawrence Block's broken hearted hardboiled hero, who has been reviewed and praised multiple times on this blog. So, if you're a Scudder fan, this book has quite a list of convincing reading suggestions.
The hardboiled private detective, the cynical loner in a trenchcoat, has become an American archetype known throughout the world. But hardly any of us who write about him have hands-on experience to draw upon. So many writers have written so many books with no greater resource than their own imaginations that it's easy to forget how it all began. One man started it all. His name was Dashiell Hammett, and he was writing about what he knew.
I have heard of most of the names mentioned in THE CRIMES OF OUR LIVES. I have read a handful, but no one ever made a convincing argument for the others. Being a reader is a tyrannical position like this, sometimes, because you get to decide who survives father time. Three names stood out to me, during my reading of THE CRIMES OF OUR LIVES: John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain and Charles Willeford. Block's description of MacDonald's fiction was particularly gripping, setting it aside from traditional noir. Having the darkness of ''a light that has failed'' is a simple and wonderful way of explaining something I've always thought too complex to fit in one sentence. The unmatched passion of Lawrence Block for his medium and his intimate knowledge of how some of the best crime fiction of last century was written makes some of these chapters sometimes as fascinating as Block's fiction. The man just has that storytelling thing figured out.
The first half of THE CRIMES OF OUR LIVES consists in a more objective look at Lawrence Block's favorite writers, showing moments of incisive intellect à la Chuck Klosterman. The latter half though, is quirkier, since it is a collection of essays and introduction written for other authors. Some of them are quite uninspired (Block is actually counting the words in one mercifully short piece), while others (the pieces on Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett) are absolutely stellar. A special mention to his piece about Robert B. Parker that is shining with integrity. Say what you want about it, but I find it courageous and moving to be able to tell people you liked the man more than you liked his work. I did not expect to enjoy THE CRIMES OF OUR LIVES as much as I did, but it turned out to be one of these books I read deliberately slow, so I could spend more quiet time with the author. I can't give it a higher compliment than this.