The Writer's Life 6/26 - Hard-Boiled

Sara Paretsky has written 17 novels. 15 feature intrepid female private eye V.I. Warshawski. I just finished the fifth in the series, Blood Shot (1988). I enjoyed it. The mystery was engaging from the start and the characters were well drawn, particularly the protagonist. While not as hard-boiled and cynical as Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade or Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe, V.I. is close. She is well-educated, an opera buff. I enjoyed the literary references sprinkled throughout the narrative. The writing was not as polished as I prefer, but that may have been intentional, as the story is a first person account in the words of someone who is not a writer. It may also have been due to my own carelessness. I read much faster than I should. Paretsky's work has been translated into 30 languages. On a scale of five, three-and-a-half. The character was brought to the silver screen in 1991 with Kathleen Turner in the title role, seemingly a great choice, but the film was not popular with critics or the public. I will add it to my Netflix list at the recommendation of an online reviewer who believes it is under-rated. Tami Hoag's A Thin Dark Line remains the best of the mysteries I've sampled. Daniel Silva and Joy Fielding impressed me the most in terms of polish.

I left the house for my morning walk at 6:15, in shorts and a T-shirt. I was shocked at how cool it was. When it came time for the floating bookshop I decided to bring a light jacket, just in case. I'm glad I did. The breeze was stiff and the sun was mostly obscured, most unusual for late June. A gentleman donated Alex Haley's Roots and Helen Keller's autobiography, which someone later bought. I also sold four novels in Russian. Thanks, folks.

Marie visited, carrying a couple of her paintings, which she had put up for sale at a show in Manhattan. She was asking $500 each. They were colorful, sort of landscapes, perhaps impressionistic. I didn't understand them and didn't know what to say. I hope I didn't bum her out more than she already seemed. She's such a nice lady and has been so generous to me. One doesn't have to be hard-boiled to be an artist, but it does take a tough skin.

Visit Vic’s sites:
Vic’s Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic’s Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic’s Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic’s 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic’s 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic’s Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f