Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Goodies Among Oldies

Congratulations are due Bruce Grossman, who today celebrates one year of writing Bookgasm’s delightful weekly column, “Bullets, Broads, Blackmail & Bombs.” For the last twelvemonth, Grossman has been reading old (which doesn’t necessarily mean “classic”) paperback thrillers and mysteries--plus some horror fiction and westerns--so you don’t have to. Over that time, he’s commented on some pretty serious stinkers (including Brooks Wilson, Ltd., by J.M. Ryan, and John Gardner’s A Killer for a Song), but he’s also discovered a few gems, such as Robert Littell’s The Amateur, Ellery Queen’s A Room to Die In, and Richard Stark’s Point Blank! He’s even found a handful of authors--Hank Janson, for one--“to seek out” in the future. And then, of course, there are his old reliables, such as Charles Willeford and David Goodis.

If you’ve haven’t been reading Grossman’s stuff, you have definitely been denying yourself enjoyment. His latest column, which actually deals with non-fiction nefariousness, can be found here.

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