tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post4103116977390520625..comments2024-03-28T02:29:37.413-05:00Comments on Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: The Gutter and the Grave -- Ed McBainAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-59800756777889400872011-06-03T19:46:28.066-05:002011-06-03T19:46:28.066-05:00Well, Hunter, anyway.Well, Hunter, anyway.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-6507957895068999722011-06-03T19:36:57.883-05:002011-06-03T19:36:57.883-05:00Whereas I read some of the Curt Cannon short stori...Whereas I read some of the Curt Cannon short stories, not knowing they were McBain, and didn't much care for them (see recent comment on IF issue with "Malice in Wonderland"). Beyond a certain artificiality, I can't quite put my finger on what rubs me so much the wrong way in his fiction...well, that, and most of the McBain I've read depends on someone doing something egregiously stupid to get the plot in motion...not just everyday stupid, but out of the way self-destructive or similarly gravely stupid. Easier to believe in life than in art, and hard to believe in life. Lousy deal, though, to have a Mike Hammer ripoff name foisted on both character and writer's byline.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-7687466820035900502011-06-03T09:46:12.887-05:002011-06-03T09:46:12.887-05:00I read the two "Curt Cannon" books 30 ye...I read the two "Curt Cannon" books 30 years ago and still remember them fondly.<br /><br />JeffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-84946987157993793452011-06-03T09:00:52.988-05:002011-06-03T09:00:52.988-05:00You got it all right, Bill. When I contacted Evan...You got it all right, Bill. When I contacted Evan about doing this book, he agreed on the condition that we let him change the title from I'M CANNON--FOR HIRE. I said okay (of course), but asked him why. His answer: "Because he's not Cannon, and he's not for hire." (Cordell was indeed the character's name originally. I suspect Gold Medal leaned on him to change it, choosing the monicker "Curt Cannon" because of the vague similarities to "Mike Hammer.")Charles Ardaihttp://www.hardcasecrime.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-33945721746248703442011-06-03T08:51:45.311-05:002011-06-03T08:51:45.311-05:00I read this when it came out. The things I most re...I read this when it came out. The things I most remember are the extended scenes with jamming jazz musicians and how race did not matter among the music fans.Gerard Saylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00289822422163685990noreply@blogger.com