Interview with Otto Penzler

My friend John J. Miller conducts an interesting interview with Otto Penzler over at National Review Online. Otto talks about his new book, The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps, and shares some details on the history of the pulps and the hard-boiled tradition.

Two things of note:

Otto's description of hard-boiled: "Hard-boiled fiction is tough, with a certain amount of violence. There’s occasionally a nihilistic overview, as there was in much of Hammett. There’s also a sentimental side, a real romantic [sense of], 'I’m the white knight and I’m going to defend justice and fairness and the pretty lady down the street.'" (quote may not be exact)

He also calls James Crumley’s The Last Good Kiss "the single best private eye novel ever written."

Comments

[guyot]

John's not really your friend.