This author was new to me, so I looked him up. He has a French but not an English Wikipedia page (figures). He wrote a series of six Florida-based novels featuring detective Brad Dolan, who gets a page at The Thrilling Detective website. "The Pace That Kills" is apparently Fuller's only stand-alone novel. It is not clear to me why he stopped publishing after 1959; did he die? The French Wikipedia page thinks he is alive at age 102, but I personally am doubtful. Does anyone know anything more about this guy?
I don't know any more than is on the back covers of the Dell books. I've read three or four of them (long ago), and I think of them as 2nd tier paperback originals. Okay, but not up there with John D. MacDonald and the real greats.
Once upon a time I was going to do a "Forgotten Writers" piece on Fuller, so here's some info on him I gathered back then. He began writing for the pulps, notably ADVENTURE, in the late 40s. In his own words in a 1948 ADVENTURE profile: "Born 1913. Deckhand on freighters and tankers in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico… Hollywood extra (westerns, mostly; however at six-three I was the tallest Chinaman in MARCO POLO); newspaper reporter, various publicity stints. Four years in the army (Guam, Leyte, Okinawa)."
Wrote 7 novels for Dell in the 50s, all but one featuring sailor/adventurer Brad Dolan. The last of these, TIGHT SQUEEZE (1959) is strongly pro-Castro and has Dolan joining and fighting with the Cuban revolutionary forces. Presumably, given what happened after Castro gained control, the backlash on this novel is what ended Fuller's literary career. When last heard of (by me, anyway) he was operating a charter fishing service out of Winter Haven, FL.
The first couple of Dolans are pretty good, particularly GOAT ISLAND. But as Bill indicates, he was never more than a second-tier writer of paperback originals of the period.
Thanks for this info, Bill. GOAT ISLAND is my favorite of the ones I've read (haven't read TIGHT SQUEEZE). I probably wrote about GOAT ISLAND somewhere or other.
Wow, Mr. Pronzini, it is an honor to have you comment on my little query! "Gun in Cheek" and "Son of Gun in Cheek" have always been huge favorites of mine.
That is fascinating about "Tight Squeeze." The Errol Flynn film "Cuban Rebel Girls," which Flynn wrote solo as well as starring in, was also pro-Castro, as was "Pier 5, Havana." Both those films came out in 1959 as well, so clearly there was a brief moment in American pop culture when Castro was a romantic figure. Flynn didn't have to live his Castro enthusiasm down, as with exquisite timing he died of a heart attack before "Cuban Rebel Girls" was even released.
7 comments:
This author was new to me, so I looked him up. He has a French but not an English Wikipedia page (figures). He wrote a series of six Florida-based novels featuring detective Brad Dolan, who gets a page at The Thrilling Detective website. "The Pace That Kills" is apparently Fuller's only stand-alone novel. It is not clear to me why he stopped publishing after 1959; did he die? The French Wikipedia page thinks he is alive at age 102, but I personally am doubtful. Does anyone know anything more about this guy?
I don't know any more than is on the back covers of the Dell books. I've read three or four of them (long ago), and I think of them as 2nd tier paperback originals. Okay, but not up there with John D. MacDonald and the real greats.
"...remindful of James M. Cain..." REMINDFUL? Really, Brett?
Once upon a time I was going to do a "Forgotten Writers" piece on Fuller, so here's some info on him I gathered back then. He began writing for the pulps, notably ADVENTURE, in the late 40s. In his own words in a 1948 ADVENTURE profile: "Born 1913. Deckhand on freighters and tankers in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico… Hollywood extra (westerns, mostly; however at six-three I was the tallest Chinaman in MARCO POLO); newspaper reporter, various publicity stints. Four years in the army (Guam, Leyte, Okinawa)."
Wrote 7 novels for Dell in the 50s, all but one featuring sailor/adventurer Brad Dolan. The last of these, TIGHT SQUEEZE (1959) is strongly pro-Castro and has Dolan joining and fighting with the Cuban revolutionary forces. Presumably, given what happened after Castro gained control, the backlash on this novel is what ended Fuller's literary career. When last heard of (by me, anyway) he was operating a charter fishing service out of Winter Haven, FL.
The first couple of Dolans are pretty good, particularly GOAT ISLAND. But as Bill indicates, he was never more than a second-tier writer of paperback originals of the period.
Thanks for this info, Bill. GOAT ISLAND is my favorite of the ones I've read (haven't read TIGHT SQUEEZE). I probably wrote about GOAT ISLAND somewhere or other.
Wow, Mr. Pronzini, it is an honor to have you comment on my little query! "Gun in Cheek" and "Son of Gun in Cheek" have always been huge favorites of mine.
That is fascinating about "Tight Squeeze." The Errol Flynn film "Cuban Rebel Girls," which Flynn wrote solo as well as starring in, was also pro-Castro, as was "Pier 5, Havana." Both those films came out in 1959 as well, so clearly there was a brief moment in American pop culture when Castro was a romantic figure. Flynn didn't have to live his Castro enthusiasm down, as with exquisite timing he died of a heart attack before "Cuban Rebel Girls" was even released.
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