|
Post by Viced on Feb 22, 2018 2:01:37 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Mattsby on Feb 22, 2018 3:03:12 GMT
Really had zero idea about this..... which is bizarre because I've been reading a lot of Mamet lately. Mostly his "essay" stuff like Writing in Restaurants and Bambi vs Godzilla - those two are enjoyable but not essential - and also the outstanding, rather philosophical, Three Uses of the Knife. Looking forward to this new book; I'll get around to it this year I'm sure. And while w're at it, I wanna see him direct again soon....we're now at his longest gap btwn projects!
|
|
|
Post by Viced on Feb 24, 2018 1:19:33 GMT
|
|
|
Post by stephen on Feb 24, 2018 2:42:44 GMT
Mamet name-dropped some of the great crime writers, including the underrated-as-all-hell George V. Higgins, author of the brilliant The Friends of Eddie Coyle and the even-more-brilliant Cogan's Trade (which was adapted into Killing Them Softly). If this novel is half as good as those two, we got us a corker on our hands.
|
|
|
Post by Viced on Feb 24, 2018 2:57:47 GMT
Mamet name-dropped some of the great crime writers, including the underrated-as-all-hell George V. Higgins, author of the brilliant The Friends of Eddie Coyle and the even-more-brilliant Cogan's Trade (which was adapted into Killing Them Softly). If this novel is half as good as those two, we got us a corker on our hands. He praised the hell out of two other GOATs (Richard Stark and James M. Cain) in the other article as well. Eddie Coyle is definitely an all-timer and even better than the movie that I also love... Cogan's Trade is great as well. What else would you recommend from Higgins? I've only read those two and about 50 pages of Trust at jury duty a few years back (not sure why I never returned to it). Digger's Game is the only one really on my radar.
|
|
|
Post by stephen on Feb 24, 2018 3:02:00 GMT
Mamet name-dropped some of the great crime writers, including the underrated-as-all-hell George V. Higgins, author of the brilliant The Friends of Eddie Coyle and the even-more-brilliant Cogan's Trade (which was adapted into Killing Them Softly). If this novel is half as good as those two, we got us a corker on our hands. He praised the hell out of two other GOATs (Richard Stark and James M. Cain) in the other article as well. Eddie Coyle is definitely an all-timer and even better than the movie that I also love... Cogan's Trade is great as well. What else would you recommend from Higgins? I've only read those two and about 50 pages of Trust at jury duty a few years back (not sure why I never returned to it). Digger's Game is the only one really on my radar. I've only read those two and Digger's Game, which was good but not quite as good as the other two. I'm mad for a good crime novel, and I was turned onto Higgins by my old English prof. I should get back into him. If you were to ask me the Mount Rushmore of crime literature, I'd have Ellroy, Chandler, Christie and Jim Thompson up there. James Carlos Blake, Chester Himes, James M. Cain, James Sallis, Walter Mosley, Dennis Lehane, Dashiell Hammett, and George V. Higgins are right behind.
|
|
|
Post by Viced on Feb 24, 2018 3:35:39 GMT
He praised the hell out of two other GOATs (Richard Stark and James M. Cain) in the other article as well. Eddie Coyle is definitely an all-timer and even better than the movie that I also love... Cogan's Trade is great as well. What else would you recommend from Higgins? I've only read those two and about 50 pages of Trust at jury duty a few years back (not sure why I never returned to it). Digger's Game is the only one really on my radar. I've only read those two and Digger's Game, which was good but not quite as good as the other two. I'm mad for a good crime novel, and I was turned onto Higgins by my old English prof. I should get back into him. If you were to ask me the Mount Rushmore of crime literature, I'd have Ellroy, Chandler, Christie and Jim Thompson up there. James Carlos Blake, Chester Himes, James M. Cain, James Sallis, Walter Mosley, Dennis Lehane, Dashiell Hammett, and George V. Higgins are right behind. Lots of good mentions, but where in the hell are Donald E. Westlake and Charles Willeford!!! Those two round out my top 3 along with my favorite sick and twisted bastard Jim Thompson.
|
|
|
Post by Mattsby on Apr 10, 2018 22:05:33 GMT
Haven't read the book yet - anybody??
But this is a great, very funny, well worth watching talk he did recently for those interested.......
|
|
|
Post by stephen on Apr 10, 2018 23:03:21 GMT
Haven't read the book yet - anybody?? But this is a great, very funny, well worth watching talk he did recently for those interested....... I'm about halfway through it now (alternating it with Bill James's compelling but somewhat rough The Man from the Train, which I think needed a bit of a proofreading punch-up; James has a nasty habit of repeating the same word multiple times in a short sequence). Mamet's definitely crafted a unique style that feels like the antecedent to the fuck-a-thon dialogue he's known for, but most of his characters here speak in these grand, sweeping, stage-friendly screeds that don't quite sing as much on the page as I'd hoped. There's a couple of really good lines in there, but for the most part, it feels overwritten and light on actual plot. Essentially, imagine if Mamet had ghostwritten an episode of Season 5 of The Wire and you basically have this book.
|
|
|
Post by Viced on May 1, 2018 1:12:34 GMT
stephen Did you finish this yet? I got it from the library and tried to get past page 20 (twice) before ditching it. I just don't think Mamet is capable of writing a novel...
|
|
|
Post by stephen on May 1, 2018 1:22:23 GMT
stephen Did you finish this yet? I got it from the library and tried to get past page 20 (twice) before ditching it. I just don't think Mamet is capable of writing a novel... Not yet. Got distracted by Michelle McNamara's book. The problem is that, yeah, the Mamet is a bit of a chore.
|
|