tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-347801392024-03-07T19:41:01.080-05:00Detectives Beyond Borders"Because Murder is More Fun Away From Home"Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comBlogger2869125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-79321972206026941972018-08-14T21:10:00.000-04:002018-08-14T21:55:21.134-04:00Linwood Barclay, Ross Macdonald, and me: What I shot and thought at Harrogate, Part II<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjevTZH5KyMalyC1Klg4shLAdTuyU2a-mlQ_24opLOHRt81dhyHB_GwhfkDczS0xtnvLo0dXK1F6Ttxj01IHNMu_0SggU74uEg2gDvmRMUJPk55OkfDvGN0fo3ZiSVslVUJpCgd/s1600/P1300137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1097" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjevTZH5KyMalyC1Klg4shLAdTuyU2a-mlQ_24opLOHRt81dhyHB_GwhfkDczS0xtnvLo0dXK1F6Ttxj01IHNMu_0SggU74uEg2gDvmRMUJPk55OkfDvGN0fo3ZiSVslVUJpCgd/s320/P1300137.JPG" width="219" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Linwood Barclay signs a book for<br />an adoring fan. Photo by Peter<br />Rozovsky by special agreement<br />with Detectives Beyond Borders.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span>’ve never been able to get Ross Macdonald or, as Macdonald himself might have said, <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2011/07/lew-archer-amateur-psychologist.html"><span style="color: blue;">I am paralyzed by a deep-seated fear of wince-makingly amateur Freudianism that I just can’t express</span></a>.<br />
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Linwood Barclay, on the other hand, is a great admirer of Macdonald’s, so naturally when Barclay approached as I chatted with a fellow attendee at the Theakston Ole Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate last month, I said: “Oh, hey! We were just ripping the ---- out of Ross Macdonald.”<br />
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Barclay, born in Connecticut but rendered good-natured and amiable by his years in Canada, pretended to be offended. But then he smiled widely and offered a disarming explanation for his Macdonald love.<br />
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When he first encountered Macdonald, Barclay said, "I didn't know anything about Freud." And no wonder. Barclay was just 15 years old at the time, and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/on-the-100th-anniversary-of-ross-macdonalds-birth-linwood-barclay-reflects-on-the-mystery-writers-work/article24220346/"><span style="color: blue;">a meeting just a few years later was a formative experience for Barclay</span></a>. I don't remember the rest of his apologia for Macdonald. Perhaps he was touched by that author's yearning empathy for his characters, and not just his protagonist.<br />
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And that's what's important, isn't it, that Barclay, through the deadening welter of Macdonald's Freudian theorizing, found something that touched him and helped make him a critically admired and internationally successful author in his own right. So no, I'm not sure I'll ever warm to Macdonald, having tried his early overwrought imitations of Raymond Chandler and his mid-career embrace of Freud and found both wanting. But I was humbled by Barclay's innocent and whole-hearted early embrace of the man and by how deeply and author can touch his readers.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2018</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-44141743128969030042018-08-10T23:19:00.001-04:002018-08-10T23:35:14.741-04:00What I shot and thought at Harrogate, Part I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jay Stringer</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEint9wmswGR6cTtp7HAcJeUqdMFP3XQ3zL9e7x-WT5P4x7p703muYUDbEMnWjiuKdAruSZ28Ci-Vw7AaYSo2ahis35WetO1CgqH7T8Kwt3fZQxYC0FeYrMfcilAQN8z-Tztmw4m/s1600/P1300060+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1301" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEint9wmswGR6cTtp7HAcJeUqdMFP3XQ3zL9e7x-WT5P4x7p703muYUDbEMnWjiuKdAruSZ28Ci-Vw7AaYSo2ahis35WetO1CgqH7T8Kwt3fZQxYC0FeYrMfcilAQN8z-Tztmw4m/s320/P1300060+%25282%2529.JPG" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is Parker Bilal, who said: “If Chandler<br />were writing today, he’d be writing about<br />Cairo or Mumbai or Lagos, these new<br />megacities.”</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujdR6rAOqtg6kiz4dSndRG4NR_izygrlTQgszI12kPJqPr2Mlon4oOy99aVbC8bzgGXPW99Cns3R6zcS6bYnpCkwuyR8_JHhccbYKAG2P_Kl2BY9RInlOudj1X-AACaYTK5Qt/s1600/P1300038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1166" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujdR6rAOqtg6kiz4dSndRG4NR_izygrlTQgszI12kPJqPr2Mlon4oOy99aVbC8bzgGXPW99Cns3R6zcS6bYnpCkwuyR8_JHhccbYKAG2P_Kl2BY9RInlOudj1X-AACaYTK5Qt/s320/P1300038.JPG" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chris Brookmyre</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>H</b></span>owdy. And may I say it's nice to be back? Here are some photos I shot at the <a href="https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime-writing-festival/"><span style="color: blue;">Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival</span></a><span id="goog_2060668104"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_2060668105"></span>, known to most as, simply, "Harrogate." Photos by me unless otherwise specified.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPuL07TxeT4y-sIapLxkbJjVa3NlCZoznYougePGJyR3HveXG8QfIScrQt77S3PMZTeHe5z2_Dl3N45WeTa64W503s7OYE0tpEFVw5Bt8C6BA8mWo-UTQ3E41sNRkRCUQkZMF2/s1600/P1300461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="529" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPuL07TxeT4y-sIapLxkbJjVa3NlCZoznYougePGJyR3HveXG8QfIScrQt77S3PMZTeHe5z2_Dl3N45WeTa64W503s7OYE0tpEFVw5Bt8C6BA8mWo-UTQ3E41sNRkRCUQkZMF2/s320/P1300461.JPG" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is Stav Sherez, whose book The<br />Intrusions won the festival's novel of<br />the year award. He also said that of all the<br />crime writers influenced by James Ellroy,<br />Don Winslow is the only one who took<br />what Ellroy did and advanced it.</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZAlYe8reQzicJxUmhmaQbplTPZTWbqs5xNv0aciyThgrOWJ4Qrz82fGEQGaOMFgGsmptRQaD0pUBpIlIyJ_JNfn1yW2-u10tFNes8wrZa8bLTETDP7j3GonahyZCIAOX2DLR/s1600/DWins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZAlYe8reQzicJxUmhmaQbplTPZTWbqs5xNv0aciyThgrOWJ4Qrz82fGEQGaOMFgGsmptRQaD0pUBpIlIyJ_JNfn1yW2-u10tFNes8wrZa8bLTETDP7j3GonahyZCIAOX2DLR/s320/DWins.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is Don Winslow, who stepped<br />in when the person choosing who<br />got to ask questions of Winslow<br />after his onstage interview repeatedly<br />ignored my raised hand. Winslow,<br />a prince of a man and a hell of a<br />writer, said. "There's a fellow down<br />here who's been trying to ask a<br />question for a while," and then gave<br />a long, thoughtful, and wide-ranging<br />answer to my question about how<br />he transmutes his meticulous<br />research into convincing fiction. </span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2018</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7BxgB4ufKs4-WvGjay4ePuQuIcXrppHvFrJY_PQrISAkRQIQpH4J5agqRMSQjv6tkairFQMjjv7KaURgVguzz107DCb__fiv2ysfu6M2kRjvJrqbNCkRNckJkm6ndDJHdbLJ/s1600/mcole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7BxgB4ufKs4-WvGjay4ePuQuIcXrppHvFrJY_PQrISAkRQIQpH4J5agqRMSQjv6tkairFQMjjv7KaURgVguzz107DCb__fiv2ysfu6M2kRjvJrqbNCkRNckJkm6ndDJHdbLJ/s320/mcole.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Martina Cole with your humble blogkeeper. Her novel<br />"Get Even" is "a soap opera in the best sense, full of<br />incident and with empathy for its violent characters,<br />and taking the tribulations of those characters<br />seriously. The narrator of the audiobook was <br />well-chosen, too. I’m guessing her accent is<br />East London, but not campy or overdone<br />in the least. It’s good stuff." <br />(Photo by Ali Karim)</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qoTXKOUz-i7eXXiq7YC5DsjihZQCxTJ5f9jlQ4qyOmG3sB7JVNBQ6aiIl7gRlKq9w1j4S8aCgAiz_olb91o_dUd4wupKzUGOvuDmqZG54cyb3V8dJJODNqMwDhafrIjDk4-B/s1600/P1290813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qoTXKOUz-i7eXXiq7YC5DsjihZQCxTJ5f9jlQ4qyOmG3sB7JVNBQ6aiIl7gRlKq9w1j4S8aCgAiz_olb91o_dUd4wupKzUGOvuDmqZG54cyb3V8dJJODNqMwDhafrIjDk4-B/s320/P1290813.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Somber Steve Cavanagh, whose<br />novel "Thirteen" is brilliantly<br />executed and excellent fun.</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbMtLvLJuhKd76jSBXIvCDVhqEGo2XaD7IXTkz_6zCz51E_DF9ru3lLVPn_8TN7_9v4GjVbq5gYsLdDSHbEvsGlaz0H03-9Op8oLLWlKGhBUQVZXZVIFl5NT1Iidv6zdzXg3CC/s1600/P1290893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbMtLvLJuhKd76jSBXIvCDVhqEGo2XaD7IXTkz_6zCz51E_DF9ru3lLVPn_8TN7_9v4GjVbq5gYsLdDSHbEvsGlaz0H03-9Op8oLLWlKGhBUQVZXZVIFl5NT1Iidv6zdzXg3CC/s320/P1290893.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Vic Watson, who kindly invited me<br />to be a part of Noir at the Bar<br />Harrogate, where I talked about the<br />event's history since I staged the<br />first one in 2008, read a story of<br />my own, and got a beer spilled<br />me, which I did not mind, because<br />the day was hot.</b></span></td></tr>
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Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-14255784588605526172018-05-13T19:46:00.000-04:002018-05-13T19:46:18.891-04:00Shot at the Edgars<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnqMPsp0Lru_h4q80tRqRI3AAD0BFQDo7yu4OVDV1pdI3Q5kRGzlYID2-z2VvisKcDk4wIzccALAYUIStiJiiPBrx70Bv-cZVM65Owkl5pN0cXtAgV8JeXKX3_8Zc8fdop2sS/s1600/P1110286+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnqMPsp0Lru_h4q80tRqRI3AAD0BFQDo7yu4OVDV1pdI3Q5kRGzlYID2-z2VvisKcDk4wIzccALAYUIStiJiiPBrx70Bv-cZVM65Owkl5pN0cXtAgV8JeXKX3_8Zc8fdop2sS/s640/P1110286+%25281%2529.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Lovesey, named an MWA Grand Master at the 2018 Edgar Awards. Photo by<br />
Peter Rozovsky for Detectives Beyond Borders.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2018</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-3129682127285868862018-05-06T19:24:00.001-04:002018-05-07T00:34:02.721-04:00A Few Minutes of the Condor: James Grady at the Edgar Awards<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib_n9yV-k7Xvz3Co8HnEVU0M2VYq38gOVbeceFprcmWMohRi2OCqlucxkTJi4ymGQwpXg8T0xfIXDPyY-Q3-_2MGddh6UyVZ5O5kV-n_UtMCdSOw411MM-PABfY6dNwg967omD/s1600/P1110037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1158" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib_n9yV-k7Xvz3Co8HnEVU0M2VYq38gOVbeceFprcmWMohRi2OCqlucxkTJi4ymGQwpXg8T0xfIXDPyY-Q3-_2MGddh6UyVZ5O5kV-n_UtMCdSOw411MM-PABfY6dNwg967omD/s400/P1110037.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">James Grady. Photography by Peter<br />Rozovsky for Detectives Beyond Borders</span></b></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></b>uthors talk about how tongue-tied they get in the presence of their literary heroes. Not me. I've made Susan Sontag and Fran Lebowitz laugh. I know from firsthand experience what one Nobel laureate thought of instant coffee. And I've schmoozed giants of crime and thriller writing in limousines, outside banquet halls, by coat racks, and queued up for free booze.<br />
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Three years ago I wrote this after the 2015 <a href="http://www.theedgars.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Edgar Awards dinner</span></a> of the Mystery Writers of America:<br />
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<i>"</i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><b>I</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> got my New York errands done early on Wednesday, slipped into a phone booth to change into my suit, and got to the ballrooms at the Grand Hyatt a few minutes before anything had started at Wednesday night's </span><a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search/label/Edgar%20Awards%202015" style="color: #996699; font-family: georgia, serif; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue;">Edgar Awards</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">.</span> </blockquote>
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<br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">"At the end of the long anteroom outside the banquet hall, a bald man slouched on a bench, looking not nearly as tall as he does when gesticulating behind a podium.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: x-small;">"`</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Mr. Ellroy,' I said. `Congratulations.'</span></i> </blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">"`I've met you before,'</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> he said, extending his hand.</span></i> </blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">"`You have. Otto's store, when you read from </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><b>Perfidia</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">.'</span></i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>"`Did you enjoy it?' he said, straightening slightly. </i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>"`I did. I read it in a week, a solid hundred pages a night.'</i></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>"`That's the way to do it,' Ellroy said with an approving nod. `Steady reading, a couch, a dog.'</i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>"`Except for the couch and the dog, just how I did it.'</i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>"`Well, they want me in there. We'll talk later.'</i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>"`I'll be running up, getting in people's way, shooting pictures.`</i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>"`Shoot away.' Another approving nod.'</i></span></blockquote>
<div>
That meeting was funny, slightly awkward, and for me revelatory--or it would have been if I'd not already suspected that James Ellroy's outsize bluster masked a touching and eager vulnerability. I like to think that this colored my subsequent reading and rereading of his work, particularly <i>Blood's a Rover</i>, but also <i>The Big Nowhere</i> and <i>The Black Dahlia</i>.<br />
<br />
I gained no such insight when I buttonholed <a href="http://mysteriouspress.com/authors/james-grady/default.asp"><span style="color: blue;">James Grady</span></a> at the <a href="https://mysterywriters.org/mwa-announces-the-2018-edgar-award-winners/"><span style="color: blue;">2018 Edgars</span></a> a week and a half ago. But I had just bought Grady's <i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://mysteriouspress.com/products/espionage-and-thriller/six-days-of-the-condor-by-james-grady.asp"><span style="color: blue;">Six Days of the Condor</span></a>,</span></i> having no idea I would meet the author two days later, and I had to share the news. "Do you mind talking about a book you wrote so long ago?" I asked Grady. (<i>Condor</i> appeared in 1974, the film version starring Robert Redford the next year.)<br />
<br />
"Not at all," he replied, smiling broadly, and we talked for a minute or two about that other Washington suspense novelist E. Howard Hunt, whom Grady said he had not known, and Hunt's fellow Watergate burglar Frank Sturgis, whom he had. (Grady writes about his discussions with Sturgis in an informative introduction to the <a href="http://mysteriouspress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Mysterious Press</span></a> edition of <i>Six Days of the Condor.</i>)<br />
<i><br /></i>
So what's the lesson? If you're a reader or a writer, the writers you like are probably pretty interesting people who know pretty interesting stuff, and why would anyone be shy about chatting with someone like that?<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2018</span></div>
Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-63516095098911708212018-03-10T17:44:00.000-05:002018-03-10T17:44:28.270-05:00Two audiobook quirks, one that works<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MOXDLOdPjfa5RT6RLwxHc8dJjUppYcEJxtF4yTYsaCBHYlrGoC7fKQlrNtRkpGdNStVcpG6zC5kgFpfg66j47lnvoWgZBwQLLDPPzdXB1UjRbIRlLNG_9F1-9aBtvBRh3nDI/s1600/1+%252840%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MOXDLOdPjfa5RT6RLwxHc8dJjUppYcEJxtF4yTYsaCBHYlrGoC7fKQlrNtRkpGdNStVcpG6zC5kgFpfg66j47lnvoWgZBwQLLDPPzdXB1UjRbIRlLNG_9F1-9aBtvBRh3nDI/s320/1+%252840%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>M</b></span>y latest report from the world of audiobooks concerns an author who appears to confuse "concede" and "accede." (At least twice he has had political leaders "concede to" demands.)<br />
<br />
The other thing he does is a lot more interesting. The book is a history of the Habsburg Empire, and it naturally mentions cities that have names in German and one or more Slavic languages. Many books of history handle such matters of nomenclature with a prefatory note in which the author presents the problem, then explains why he or she has chosen to use one name or the other.<br />
<br />
This author, on the other hand, almost always gives both or even all three names of a city every time he mentions it. This must be obtrusive on the page, and it's almost maddeningly disruptive when one has to hear someone reading it. And yet, many hours into the book, while the violence this does to the rhythm of the reading remains, it begins to drive home the multiethnic character of the empire in question. This is of particular interest given the various types of nationalism and regionalism that came into play in Habsburg territories in 19th century. So I grudgingly concede (note my proper use of that word, author) that the device is effective.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
***</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">(</span><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span>he book is </i><b>The Habsburg Empire: A New History</b><i>. The author is Pieter M. Judson. The audiobook reader/narrator is Michael Page.</i>)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2018</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-635798879066104742018-03-10T17:26:00.002-05:002018-03-10T17:28:41.912-05:00More New York crime seen<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></b>his time it was (from left) Ed Aymar, Jenny Milchman, Angel Colón, and Hilary Davidson stopping in at Mysterious Bookshop to talk about <i><a href="https://www.fuseliterary.com/project/the-night-of-the-flood-by-e-a-aymar/"><span style="color: blue;">The Night of the Flood</span></a></i>, a novel to which they and a bunch more authors contributed.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNJ2ntajTv-TZ6TDr0v6v14II3HFVIa3-Oj5W2p-qZVZGxIkIq4dZOLMlkm6l7OglBSzwjoy06REtgWjVC0oET8kzh1MP26m7FO9NH1oO2z5fhkwoOhmMdfqErcQ-4R_uj_wD/s1600/1+%252853%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="991" data-original-width="1600" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNJ2ntajTv-TZ6TDr0v6v14II3HFVIa3-Oj5W2p-qZVZGxIkIq4dZOLMlkm6l7OglBSzwjoy06REtgWjVC0oET8kzh1MP26m7FO9NH1oO2z5fhkwoOhmMdfqErcQ-4R_uj_wD/s400/1+%252853%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>All photos by Peter Rozovsky for Detectives Beyond Borders</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
They talked about the book, the story behind it, the issues it embraces, and the chords it struck with them. Colón and Davidson were especially compelling and, as was the case when Scott Adlerberg touted his new novel at Mysterious not long ago, authors talking can be even better than authors reading when it comes to making a case that you ought to buy their books.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
***</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLTP_0j_gLJdaSn9hbsZ15Lf9vqIQTSbW8c1b4T8fQg3cZxSgBCVFwa_C8HWlQRZVqbcbTBkaa0N23hnHHeWfhs1lfKLGIddiAKWLkA_pu7b9OaeXn9N-13Ip0bd9iAOSZLI1/s1600/1+%252849%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLTP_0j_gLJdaSn9hbsZ15Lf9vqIQTSbW8c1b4T8fQg3cZxSgBCVFwa_C8HWlQRZVqbcbTBkaa0N23hnHHeWfhs1lfKLGIddiAKWLkA_pu7b9OaeXn9N-13Ip0bd9iAOSZLI1/s400/1+%252849%2529.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></b>here's more to New York than crime writers. The city is also rife with picturesque precipitation, and its ethnic diversity is nearly as great as Toronto's.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xO3Yhq7t5mTvS1yf7gJHVfnSXHZ3244l9tjMbCPZyQivLrtVFoeHgCWjPYomvr4dKn71iI-exuaYhPx9OYSekMkugHglRU-VfpuH5EKNzqpCGu9A2brgVi1nfd31Y20YLnNB/s1600/1+%252846%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1091" data-original-width="877" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xO3Yhq7t5mTvS1yf7gJHVfnSXHZ3244l9tjMbCPZyQivLrtVFoeHgCWjPYomvr4dKn71iI-exuaYhPx9OYSekMkugHglRU-VfpuH5EKNzqpCGu9A2brgVi1nfd31Y20YLnNB/s320/1+%252846%2529.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2018</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-16462948840601052342018-03-08T02:22:00.000-05:002018-03-08T02:58:31.076-05:00More crime in New York<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjn60a8u1tgY1Vc-JjQYRi56sDgIriNKSsQoLZwvEm1khQM7z_BrFFJlZJo70H8Lk-0NohwMeMXBIjMDDu0aCuyTsVUhb76Il0pT7qar24LhnHn9yrnl_Ja1Y-Aq2wdV3d2Se/s1600/1+%252842%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjn60a8u1tgY1Vc-JjQYRi56sDgIriNKSsQoLZwvEm1khQM7z_BrFFJlZJo70H8Lk-0NohwMeMXBIjMDDu0aCuyTsVUhb76Il0pT7qar24LhnHn9yrnl_Ja1Y-Aq2wdV3d2Se/s320/1+%252842%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Alison Gaylin. Photos by Peter<br />Rozovsky for Detectives Beyond<br />Borders</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></b>nother day, another crime fiction event at Mysterious Bookshop. This time it was Alison Gaylin talking about her new novel <i>If I Die Tonight</i> on Tuesday with Megan Abbott for a crowd that included Sarah Weinman and other luminaries I'd have had a chance to talk to if I hadn't had to get back to work.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyJDXDQyQpz-SF7pEvhTaUCVOL_j3VOnwMFnATKCKved_ln4oXVbbAyfu-VRe9s38l5Zu1YbU_0PAahkbhD6IMa4iw2nZ2h2A6WcaI2O_gKzxyQuCS0UE7Xy6Q4xg0uUnSII4/s1600/1+%252850%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="1265" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyJDXDQyQpz-SF7pEvhTaUCVOL_j3VOnwMFnATKCKved_ln4oXVbbAyfu-VRe9s38l5Zu1YbU_0PAahkbhD6IMa4iw2nZ2h2A6WcaI2O_gKzxyQuCS0UE7Xy6Q4xg0uUnSII4/s400/1+%252850%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Elsewhere, well, from the Lower East Side to the Upper West Side, New York is just a fine place to do some shooting. And let me tell you: The hotels up there are nicer than the ones down here.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2018</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-33841440429092529442018-03-05T18:58:00.001-05:002018-03-05T19:04:52.257-05:00Cavanagh, McKinty, and Child at the Mysterious Bookshop<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3f5GQLupsL4DSySzTpiUOGgbocvQgYaoOmnzzcqL0e3aHbQBSLUjF4uW6BSexeabWRl0qfwIAQamGT5gI-5U1uDM4RUMaYNH5SHEDQqnOPZ10aYVkfif0o2s5B9ODgkFfP_sb/s1600/1+%252830%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3f5GQLupsL4DSySzTpiUOGgbocvQgYaoOmnzzcqL0e3aHbQBSLUjF4uW6BSexeabWRl0qfwIAQamGT5gI-5U1uDM4RUMaYNH5SHEDQqnOPZ10aYVkfif0o2s5B9ODgkFfP_sb/s400/1+%252830%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Lee Child, Steve Cavanagh. Photos by Peter Rozovsky for<br />Detectives Beyond Borders.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://stevecavanaghbooks.com/"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">S</span></b>teve Cavanagh</span></a> is a lawyer in Northern Ireland who sets his legal thrillers in New York because the U.K. legal system, which divides a lawyer's job into the two professions of barrister and solicitor, would force him to create two protagonists, and besides, who could take seriously a hero in a white powdered wig?<br />
<br />
That's what Steve said, at least, and if he was having his audience (Friday, at the <a href="https://www.mysteriousbookshop.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Mysterious Bookshop</span></a> in New York) on a bit, that would be thoroughly in keeping with the sort of fun and misdirection that he says characterizes great courtroom advocates. Such lawyers, Steve said, know just how to hold the room's attention and when to misdirect it. It may help if you know that Steve's protagonist, the irrepressible Eddie Flynn, star of <i><a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2015/05/detectives-beyond-borders-for-defence.html"><span style="color: blue;">The Defence</span></a></i> (<i>The Defense</i> in the U.S.), <i><a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2016/06/why-you-should-cop-plea.html"><span style="color: blue;">The Plea</span></a></i>, and <i>The Liar</i>, is a con man turned lawyer, and the type of lawyer I'd want on a my side even if he sometimes sleeps in his clothes, tiptoes along high ledges, or works with a bomb attached to his body.<br />
<br />
"Is there anything you have thought about having Eddie do but then rejected as too wild even for him?" I asked.<br />
<br />
"No," Steve said, and if you suspect from this that the Eddie Flynn novels are fun, you're right.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
###</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UGStZRLwVbmtUgul5Mr8G36OfyhIwMAYVKYjd-cYKazQzOcHJZ8bYepCwFivE9Jt4b9urpTxoyKU7uru7JQRDmU2Qd-76HpLMSQlLBCNa3Sj0YZh-Zq3dNKyuhDilXp6gXx6/s1600/1+%252831%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="1600" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UGStZRLwVbmtUgul5Mr8G36OfyhIwMAYVKYjd-cYKazQzOcHJZ8bYepCwFivE9Jt4b9urpTxoyKU7uru7JQRDmU2Qd-76HpLMSQlLBCNa3Sj0YZh-Zq3dNKyuhDilXp6gXx6/s320/1+%252831%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve Cavanagh, Adrian McKinty</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">C</span></b>avanagh appeared with Lee Child at the event, and the audience included <a href="https://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search?q=mckinty"><span style="color: blue;">Adrian McKinty</span></a>, in downtown Manhattan by way of Carrickfergus, Melbourne, and uptown Manhattan. Adrian is a longtime Detective Beyond Borders favorite, an Edgar Award winner, the author of two superb series in addition to a bunch of standalone novels, a self-proclaimed connoisseur of beer, and an erudite boon companion whom it is always a pleasure to see. <br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2018</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-58854746459703451042018-03-04T21:40:00.000-05:002018-03-04T21:40:45.498-05:00MWAaaaaaaaa! for mystery<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWDA8S06SYy9k693X-flOaouuv5miLvCfaotO2NMa84xBk6lzBex-9iyZVI6tsGJ5XZNRIjR52oBA8pgkkf_bSzdzn9vaiqP15GQkg4rGw1bW-Iog56j7hVIUTDMK2xT1PniyR/s1600/IMG_2497.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1091" data-original-width="1600" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWDA8S06SYy9k693X-flOaouuv5miLvCfaotO2NMa84xBk6lzBex-9iyZVI6tsGJ5XZNRIjR52oBA8pgkkf_bSzdzn9vaiqP15GQkg4rGw1bW-Iog56j7hVIUTDMK2xT1PniyR/s320/IMG_2497.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jeff Markowitz, head of the MWA's New York<br />chapter, who really is as genial as he appears here.<br />Photo by Peter Rozovsky</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">I</span>'m not a joiner, but I'm going to make an exception for the Mystery Writers of America, the New York chapter of whose Mix and Mingle brunch I attended Saturday. A good time was had by everyone whose opinion I could verify, and the only glitch was that, thanks to some confusion on the staff's part, I got an extra margarita. </div>
<br />
Here's some of what I learned:<br />
<br />
1) Sara Blaedel, Danish crime writer, now lives in New York, knows a lot of stuff, and is good to chat with over brunch.<br />
<br />
2) Ben Keller, whom I had not known previously, is a PI and from Louisiana, and what could be cooler background for an author than that? Except that's not even the coolest thing about his career.<br />
<br />
It was good to see Charles Salzberg, author, teacher, writing guru, and a generous soul who has channelled some editing work my way; author Chris Knopf, previously unknown to me and apparently a good egg (but what else would you expect from someone who hangs out with Charles Salzberg?); Tim O'Mara; Dru Ann Love, one of those super volunteer-fan-reviewers who are a big part of the glue that holds the crime fiction community together; and other folks whose names I never got but who left me feeling like a hayseed clutching a worn carpet bag and gaping in awe at all the crime-related events going on in this city. And the food was good!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> © Peter Rozovsky 2018</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-62013181159201436722018-02-22T17:12:00.000-05:002018-02-22T17:18:41.823-05:00It Had to Be Hitchcock<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">O</span></b>ne of the cool things about my new job in New York is that one of my new colleagues is a big Alfred Hitchcock fan. In her honor, here's a photo I took in New York's Chinatown last week.<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2018</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-82774382159416281792017-11-21T00:41:00.000-05:002017-11-21T00:58:01.763-05:00News flash: Peter Lovesey is an MWA Grand Master<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Peter Lovesey (Photograph for Detectives<br />Beyond Borders by Peter Rozovsky)</b></span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>M</b></span>ystery Writers of America have announced that Peter Lovesey has been named an <a href="https://mysterywriters.org/mwa-announces-2018-special-edgar-awards-grand-master-raven-and-ellery-queen/"><span style="color: blue;">MWA Grand Master</span></a>. </i><b>The Last Detective</b><i>, first of Lovesey's novels about Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond, is one of the best alienated-cop novels. </i><i><i>I got to meet and chat with Lovesey at Crimefest 2017 in
Bristol, and I am pleased to report that he is
one of the most pleasant fellows one could want to meet, entertaining as a panelist and informative as an interview subject. </i></i><i><i><i>And here's an old post about that most virtuosic of crime-fiction feats, Lovesey's </i></i></i><b>Bertie and the Seven Bodies</b><i><i><i>. </i>
</i></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><i>==================== </i></i></div>
<i><i>
</i></i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span> like authors who solve narrative problems, and that superb craftsman and fine storyteller <a href="http://www.peterlovesey.com/"><span style="color: #3333ff;">Peter Lovesey</span></a> solved a whopper in his 1990 mystery<i><i> <i>Bertie and the Seven Bodies</i> (<a href="http://www.felonyandmayhem.com/"><span style="color: #3333ff;">Felony and Mayhem Press</span></a>), </i></i>the second of his three novels about Bertie, Prince of Wales.<br />
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I picked up this affectionate tribute to Golden Age mysteries, Agatha Christie's in particular, as a change of pace, and I noticed early on how skillfully Lovesey captures the flavor and tone of an English country-house mystery while at the same time remaining thoroughly up to date.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4TOQYy46MbpMYBn5U_a1R0oICc_yATFLRKYdVLygJys5ZdRaoi3d-as1UbJd8DOx65GcRiZjAim8WraUWQMQD63mg6DhJ3KMOGEwPGjCubNG4w-F9_rJQx2scU419CgSX6yr5g/s1600-h/Bertie.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215956827663030914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4TOQYy46MbpMYBn5U_a1R0oICc_yATFLRKYdVLygJys5ZdRaoi3d-as1UbJd8DOx65GcRiZjAim8WraUWQMQD63mg6DhJ3KMOGEwPGjCubNG4w-F9_rJQx2scU419CgSX6yr5g/s200/Bertie.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;" /></a>How does he do this? First by making the jovial prince and the pretty hostess more explicitly randy than his predecessors in the Golden Age probably would have; second, by describing the pheasant hunt that is the occasion for the story's house party far more thoroughly than I expect a Golden Age author would have done:<i><i><br />
</i></i><br />
<blockquote>
<i><i><i>"The planning for this week of sport had begun more than a year ago, and the arrangements couldn't be altered at the drop of a hat. What with loaders, beaters, stops, pickers-up, drivers and catering staff, we could be using more than two hundred personnel."<br /><br />"The dead birds were tidily lined up for counting, almost two hundred pheasants, one of the gamekeepers said, bringing our day's bag past seven hundred."<br /><br />"I waited, flanked by my loaders, picturing the activity in the coverts as the fugitive birds scampered ahead of the beaters. A pheasant has a natural reluctance to take to its wings, and it requires a well-managed beat to put it up precisely over the guns without flushing too many other at once."<br /><br />"This</i></i></i> battue<i><i> <i>was faultless. They presented the birds in a long, soaring sequence almost vertically above us. I worked with three guns, receiving from the loader on my right, firing and passing it empty to the other man, never shifting my eyes from the sky."</i></i></i></blockquote>
<i><i>
</i></i>The accumulated weight of these vignettes adds up to a startling picture of sybaritism, a portrait of long, hard work by many devoted to the idle and momentary enjoyment of a few. And yet they work as action and description without ever coming off as shrill, polemical, condescending or anachronistically knowing.<br />
<br />
Why? Because Bertie describes the scene with an innocent eye. He does not know that what he sees might be appalling to the democratic and ecological sensibilities of today's readers. That distance safely allows us both to enjoy the scene and to be surprised, even shocked, by its waste and luxury. To put it another way, Lovesey has written the most socially authentic-seeming hunt scene I can remember in any crime story.<br />
<br />
Lovesey appeals beautifully to current readers' sensibilities. At the same time, he maintains the atmosphere of a story composed in the past (that he does this all against yet a third layer of time, the story's 19th-century setting, is a matter for discussion elsewhere). <b><span style="color: red;">What other authors do this?</span></b><i><i><br /></i></i><i><i>
====================</i></i><br />
<i>
(</i><span style="color: black;"><i>Read <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-bertie-and-seven-bodies.html"><span style="color: blue;">another Detectives Beyond Borders post about </span></a></i><a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-bertie-and-seven-bodies.html"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Bertie and the Seven Bodies</b></span></a><i>.)</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 78%;">© Peter Rozovsky 2008, 2017</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-75678421337513149512017-11-17T13:35:00.000-05:002017-11-17T13:35:47.398-05:00Shots
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></b>hree from Bristol shot by me, one from New Orleans not.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2016, 2017</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-14269800039983650922017-11-14T17:18:00.000-05:002017-11-14T17:18:17.354-05:00Knowles and Truman: What I've been reading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-22861234252406469952017-11-02T16:48:00.003-04:002017-11-02T16:50:09.157-04:00Top news from the antipodes: New Zealand's Ngaio Marsh Awards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">C</span></b>raig Sisterson, last heard from in this space <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2017/10/bouchercon-2017-part-ii-cricket-lesson.html"><span style="color: blue;">explaining cricket to your humble blog keeper</span></a>, sends along cool news about the recent Ngaio Marsh Awards, New Zealand's top crime fiction prize, and the flock of talented newcomers who won this year's awards. (Craig founded the awards, and I served as a judge a few years ago, so Craig is <i>the</i> man in N.Z. fiction, and I'm an old friend.) Here's Craig:<br />
<div style="font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<div style="font-family: geneva, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"The usual suspects took a back seat as first-time crime writers Fiona Sussman, Finn Bell, and Michael Bennett swept the spoils at the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards in Christchurch on Saturday night. </b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The talented trio made history on several fronts at a special WORD Christchurch event hosted in Dame Ngaio’s hometown by Scorpio Books as part of nationwide NZ Bookshop Day celebrations. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“`Each of our winners this year is a remarkable storyteller who uses crime writing as a prism through which to explore broader human and societal issues,' said Ngaios founder Craig Sisterson. `When we launched in 2010 we wanted to highlight excellence in local crime writing, beyond traditional ideas of puzzling whodunits or airport thrillers. Our 2017 winners emphasise that broader scope to the genre, and showcase the inventiveness and world-class quality of our local storytellers.' </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Sussman is the first female author to win the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE (Allison & Busby) is her second novel but the first foray into crime storytelling for the former GP who grew up in Apartheid South Africa. It explores the ongoing impact of a brutal home invasion on both victim and perpetrator. `Laden with empathy and insight,' said the international judging panel. `A challenging, emotional read, harrowing yet touching, this is brave and sophisticated storytelling.' </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It took Sussman seven years to research and write her winning novel. She travelled Aotearoa visiting prisons, talking to police and victims, inmates and ex-gang members, and seeking advice from Māori writers to ensure she brought authenticity to the disparate worlds of her characters. She won a Ngaios trophy, special edition of a Dame Ngaio book, and $1,000 cash prize courtesy of WORD Christchurch. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Self-published e-book author Finn Bell won Best First Novel for DEAD LEMONS and was a finalist for Best Crime Novel for PANCAKE MONEY. His debut explores themes of addiction, loss, and recovery as a wheelchair-bound man contemplating suicide decamps to a remote cottage in Southland, only to be obsessively drawn into a dangerous search for a father and daughter who went missing years before. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Bell has worked in night shelters, charities, hospitals, and prisons. He is the first author to ever have two books become finalists in a single year. The judges called him `a wonderful new voice in crime writing' who `delivers a tense, compelling tale centred on an original, genuine, and vulnerable character.' </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Experienced filmmaker Michael Bennett (Te Arawa) won the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non Fiction for IN DARK PLACES (Paul Little Books), the astonishing tale of how teenage car thief Teina Pora spent decades in prison for the brutal murder of Susan Burdett, and the remarkable fight to free him. The international judging panel called it `a scintillating, expertly balanced account of one of the most grievous miscarriages of justice in New Zealand history.' </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“`Decades ago a woman from Christchurch was among the biggest names in the books world,' said Sisterson. `In recent years there’s a growing appreciation abroad for the top talent of our contemporary Kiwi crime writers; a reputation that’s going to flourish even more thanks to this year’s winners.'" </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">For more information about the Ngaio Marsh Awards, contact the Judging Convenor: </span></b><b><span style="border: 0px; color: blue; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="mailto:craigsisterson@hotmail.com">craigsisterson@hotmail.com</a></span></b><b style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> or <a href="mailto:ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com">ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com</a>. </span></b></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-69509102467143856062017-10-28T16:24:00.000-04:002017-10-28T18:39:22.114-04:00Bouchercon 2017, Part II: Cricket lesson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Craig Sisterson (right) with<br />William Deverell. Photos by<br />Peter Rozovsky</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>C</b></span>raig Sisterson is a small land mass in the South Pacific, about 600 square kilometers in area, 700 meters high, and characterized at times by sparse facial vegetation. He also created New Zealand's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngaio_Marsh_Award"><span style="color: blue;">Ngaio Marsh crime fiction awards</span></a>, and he's been a jovial companion at crime fiction conventions in England and North America.</span><br />
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At the recent <a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Bouchercon 2017</span></a> in Toronto, he gave me a lesson in cricket, explaining the sport's tactics and pointing to fellow hotel guests and saying things like, "He's a short third man" and "She's a fine leg," by which he meant that those are the names of the cricket fielding positions corresponding to where those guests were standing in relation to us, had Craig and I been bowlers, strikers, wicket keepers, umpires, or silly mid offs. The bemused smiles and puzzled stares of those so anointed did not detract from Craig's lesson, and I now know much more than I once did about cricket.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSc-1roy2ainPUfl0oigVSKDdXm_Gi1Pon1lZuhqi3SDypVjebIu1RWc9e54gIrHfo8iHft-pUNeXz0ThMzYFacg2sVD18yk3pIMGpW3u5ftBqYRWM85ECsww1aOj3blSD-pmH/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="669" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSc-1roy2ainPUfl0oigVSKDdXm_Gi1Pon1lZuhqi3SDypVjebIu1RWc9e54gIrHfo8iHft-pUNeXz0ThMzYFacg2sVD18yk3pIMGpW3u5ftBqYRWM85ECsww1aOj3blSD-pmH/s400/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Toronto City Hall</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctL71TIYHa5sfZ2IS_TNzS9fxOi8yMl5JbI2pwHW2xuVqV0Nf8l37TGKOipHj3xgfSA8E8QbUwnygZc0IAAQ0GRRnxr2x_FyNEyvhZDEg-spwnLiLVBdhxSmjGu50OFgz6i2R/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctL71TIYHa5sfZ2IS_TNzS9fxOi8yMl5JbI2pwHW2xuVqV0Nf8l37TGKOipHj3xgfSA8E8QbUwnygZc0IAAQ0GRRnxr2x_FyNEyvhZDEg-spwnLiLVBdhxSmjGu50OFgz6i2R/s320/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Antti Tuomainen, Karen Sullivan</b></span></td></tr>
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I also took some pictures.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEeFseZaHGAIc1xpDnvDmhND8rFAWG5UwWSBgH6o7GMW-y2rsNJbVhStRXr7b888USFLS1vi-_18MzmiVoxcuPHqdT9K6oN-h2vYYJ-vZlAbujMsgaXQ_qYca_54CVbMLCCkX9/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEeFseZaHGAIc1xpDnvDmhND8rFAWG5UwWSBgH6o7GMW-y2rsNJbVhStRXr7b888USFLS1vi-_18MzmiVoxcuPHqdT9K6oN-h2vYYJ-vZlAbujMsgaXQ_qYca_54CVbMLCCkX9/s320/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Colin Cotterill</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fMWLdIst7eibVvKcEcheLR6_Fr5DLhvoFNgpfeUxZFzhyphenhyphenRZVMscRdyEJ8k6-9SqgN6crP0HYHQv29QXsqmUuX1RFn10QyI8qyIj4T__D2fHnLXyn3qEwEj7errDnH5Zy22Nh/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fMWLdIst7eibVvKcEcheLR6_Fr5DLhvoFNgpfeUxZFzhyphenhyphenRZVMscRdyEJ8k6-9SqgN6crP0HYHQv29QXsqmUuX1RFn10QyI8qyIj4T__D2fHnLXyn3qEwEj7errDnH5Zy22Nh/s320/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ian Truman</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDG-3gNZznc792FMHLwrcWZrjJykqNhmtq6fbVWQZxR_fhyBi9tkdcGHTih_QvhUoRx-4fBmY4kdQjNnA6h2fnSN2bQ3hU-0em6uw5FhYXsJkcOJN0fWGh7WGuDlAH5yU8w6el/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDG-3gNZznc792FMHLwrcWZrjJykqNhmtq6fbVWQZxR_fhyBi9tkdcGHTih_QvhUoRx-4fBmY4kdQjNnA6h2fnSN2bQ3hU-0em6uw5FhYXsJkcOJN0fWGh7WGuDlAH5yU8w6el/s320/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Elizabeth Heiter, Stuart Neville </b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrmFJ_gyD7GkPkssIysfUSbYBbfDVqDTkuuZplOXrseeqd89Bf2w5e_tHhv2PF5M1GQmImmMWP3soSYrCKBkFNRK8JtZc_XKv0zFhxU1Rqt4d5LKFcAEXI32VBbP3YewYm_A3/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrmFJ_gyD7GkPkssIysfUSbYBbfDVqDTkuuZplOXrseeqd89Bf2w5e_tHhv2PF5M1GQmImmMWP3soSYrCKBkFNRK8JtZc_XKv0zFhxU1Rqt4d5LKFcAEXI32VBbP3YewYm_A3/s200/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">James Ziskin</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlM4PuiIi7SFow3naXD7w5D98v_8nzdNye8ANSolsR5qED9IpiJIzfImRkiE3Y8zDhGkifLqebhqjfDH9PgOe6VxM7dM5PF1Vc_Tpawbp89A-f3XOWCd40pXfioeUG_c7SOZfo/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="960" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlM4PuiIi7SFow3naXD7w5D98v_8nzdNye8ANSolsR5qED9IpiJIzfImRkiE3Y8zDhGkifLqebhqjfDH9PgOe6VxM7dM5PF1Vc_Tpawbp89A-f3XOWCd40pXfioeUG_c7SOZfo/s400/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Karin Salvalaggio, Mindy Mejia, Lori Roy</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Mhvr1c6pEg4N85IFaTaqDtnXzEx6DZMH5-COxi80CX9Y9iaK_QFuohIZTInrUHN5oEMelzly7PmqrFsGcSulsNR8OsCwEekzPYx-Zh7ROqmVNrCAejPDGl-RaUB7Tv7nQdiZ/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Mhvr1c6pEg4N85IFaTaqDtnXzEx6DZMH5-COxi80CX9Y9iaK_QFuohIZTInrUHN5oEMelzly7PmqrFsGcSulsNR8OsCwEekzPYx-Zh7ROqmVNrCAejPDGl-RaUB7Tv7nQdiZ/s320/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anita Thompson, Kay Kendall</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBs9o2Y3J7qHOrfLseqEgvPJ7PRCmjxXn9-d8d_Ujn8Y5qboRwkyJt60MOFN2XVy-1Xd2WAO5h92SRt8sdNmPGgh93iAiu5JUJBkrmXdPKNqsMCN1RNJ98kiVNVvFyGDa2TX1M/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBs9o2Y3J7qHOrfLseqEgvPJ7PRCmjxXn9-d8d_Ujn8Y5qboRwkyJt60MOFN2XVy-1Xd2WAO5h92SRt8sdNmPGgh93iAiu5JUJBkrmXdPKNqsMCN1RNJ98kiVNVvFyGDa2TX1M/s320/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">David McKee, John McFetridge</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLY6FIOHThqFM5dqZ2j4AS7TPLozQN1p4uQFLbIe-to-xDUUfmc5p_9djm5yKGhWvyOvvbUcyhEkcYCg31XHUxhWwOU0DJGyfDfwlXa8zTnF4cHXhQffLhMX0twVgsVD0VfO1/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLY6FIOHThqFM5dqZ2j4AS7TPLozQN1p4uQFLbIe-to-xDUUfmc5p_9djm5yKGhWvyOvvbUcyhEkcYCg31XHUxhWwOU0DJGyfDfwlXa8zTnF4cHXhQffLhMX0twVgsVD0VfO1/s200/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Barry Lancet</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnlQ2milR8Vodk3e3NCbsg7waC9cfkOYAloEGSNn3zqjXdrHpLVP7L_OKaqXVgjUWzZWNd4Wkx3mDtWgy_OEv9NYF2HE4MuRDhcdDwkkH13wFMCAMZwRrgXsy6kH4OKchSqxi/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnlQ2milR8Vodk3e3NCbsg7waC9cfkOYAloEGSNn3zqjXdrHpLVP7L_OKaqXVgjUWzZWNd4Wkx3mDtWgy_OEv9NYF2HE4MuRDhcdDwkkH13wFMCAMZwRrgXsy6kH4OKchSqxi/s200/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Baron Birtcher</span></b></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XbLOeGJclCDJubAsH0nBJcZoMDP9EsSkYBQ8puz74XNef3SLoHB6s1BxJW2JPZeeaIwda3VczZcyY4l0y_ilzwmb60ZKl5Xf7Nt_VT0KO0lKHnfvzS4jvLFAFPZp0JikYWZi/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XbLOeGJclCDJubAsH0nBJcZoMDP9EsSkYBQ8puz74XNef3SLoHB6s1BxJW2JPZeeaIwda3VczZcyY4l0y_ilzwmb60ZKl5Xf7Nt_VT0KO0lKHnfvzS4jvLFAFPZp0JikYWZi/s200/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Emelie Schepp</span></b></td></tr>
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Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-20445612145295629762017-10-27T18:35:00.002-04:002017-10-30T20:44:07.728-04:00Two smart authors, one of them Sharp<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTCMrE6HIDGqObM2w_fsEIz-Mv84hY6U3RnymElitMhoFXomfI2UIH_tUgoRFpGwRA8rSoLgStVf6Ho3GjxvOvPBBKnZ1cKdz-B-GI4s_Q_1SDrEAOKB7zu-Y0ZzJTAstIopB/s1600/Lawton+Sharp+NYC+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTCMrE6HIDGqObM2w_fsEIz-Mv84hY6U3RnymElitMhoFXomfI2UIH_tUgoRFpGwRA8rSoLgStVf6Ho3GjxvOvPBBKnZ1cKdz-B-GI4s_Q_1SDrEAOKB7zu-Y0ZzJTAstIopB/s320/Lawton+Sharp+NYC+023.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Zoe Sharp and John Lawton in New<br />York. Photos by Peter Rozovsky</b></span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>B</b></span>ouchercon</span></a> is a great opportunity to hang out with people who believe that a good piece of writing should be at least 141 characters long and that those characters should form an elegantly written whole that, nonetheless, deserves a second look before it leaves the writer's desk and goes public.<br />
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A week after returning from Bouchercon in Toronto, I visited the <a href="https://www.mysteriousbookshop.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Mysterious Bookshop</span></a> in New York to hear fellow attendees <a href="http://www.zoesharp.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Zoe Sharp</span></a> and <a href="http://www.groveatlantic.com/default.aspx#page=isbn9780802127068"><span style="color: blue;">John Lawton</span></a> read from their new novels. (Sharp's is <i>Fox Hunter</i>. Lawton's is <i>Friends and Traitors</i>.) Lawton said<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>spies
(if I remember correctly) are made in the nursery. The man talked Guy Burgess,
Anthony Blunt, and what made those celebrated British defectors what they were,
and he never mentioned geopolitics.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Obh0J4-_iXapY3itLbPRYg5myknZS8crF3WZi_HqiemwsP32-V7_qn-FbDmObxSjhby1hcQFduY73TQkT1VK8VgR_TzahyphenhyphenDqM4Snr3CjWDUKOwDzsdNd5kU68KE3gQju8y6Z/s1600/BConLawton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Obh0J4-_iXapY3itLbPRYg5myknZS8crF3WZi_HqiemwsP32-V7_qn-FbDmObxSjhby1hcQFduY73TQkT1VK8VgR_TzahyphenhyphenDqM4Snr3CjWDUKOwDzsdNd5kU68KE3gQju8y6Z/s200/BConLawton.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>John Lawton, <br />Bouchercon 2017,<br />Toronto</b></span></td></tr>
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Sharp bemoaned the idea of the strong female character in
crime fiction. A male character kicks ass, he’s just a character. A female
character does the same, and she’s singled out. Worth thinking about, I’d say.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhxlV2yAxu0AL199mqMOB-Yt2BWQuqItkE32aUer_7dXw8XtolkXl4BSYGEAMH7GMRmF4ZAKgQQ7ytiQg5XWJ1KRh5DiAnlUoeg9pZeAx0v8f3258P7_okJPMnNSIE_-7hwRN/s1600/BConSharp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhxlV2yAxu0AL199mqMOB-Yt2BWQuqItkE32aUer_7dXw8XtolkXl4BSYGEAMH7GMRmF4ZAKgQQ7ytiQg5XWJ1KRh5DiAnlUoeg9pZeAx0v8f3258P7_okJPMnNSIE_-7hwRN/s320/BConSharp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Zoe Sharp at Noir at the Bar, Bouchercon, Toronto</b></span></td></tr>
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Alluding to recent news headlines, Sharp said she hopes
the new word “Harveyed” enters the language, to which a woman in the audience
replied “and leaves the workplace,” to nods of assent and quiet cheers.</div>
<br />
Read Lawton, read Sharp, and go hear both authors if you can. They’re worth reading and also listening
to.
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<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017 </span>
Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-38563089552396762222017-10-21T23:40:00.001-04:002017-10-28T15:56:08.035-04:00 Bouchercon 2017: A Report from Loonie Land<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>M</b></span>y 10th Bouchercon</span></a> included a few firsts and superlatives:<br />
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1) The first panel on which I sat as a panelist rather than a moderator.<br />
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2) My first Bouchercon outside the United States. <br />
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3) The most cold medicine I'd ever taken at a Bouchercon and, as a consequence ...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Zoe Sharp reads at the pre-con Noir at the Bar.<br />Photos by Peter Rozovsky.</b></span></td></tr>
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4) The least gin I'd ever drunk at a Bouchercon. (I made up for this by drinking more wine and eating more oatmeal.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBHJmk-2wVpiAIDOcDG0Y9FsvodCzq0wuF49BfPEDi1K7OO84XavAzX573S3pKIcreEinqQdGQYILCBOcrHq1NQuVFwkP3wyKqH5DI0zsD-Vc72NQV-dGufrAjJUKyfR2eFua4/s1600/BConJacques.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="960" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBHJmk-2wVpiAIDOcDG0Y9FsvodCzq0wuF49BfPEDi1K7OO84XavAzX573S3pKIcreEinqQdGQYILCBOcrHq1NQuVFwkP3wyKqH5DI0zsD-Vc72NQV-dGufrAjJUKyfR2eFua4/s320/BConJacques.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jacques Filippi</span></b></td></tr>
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5) This was the first Bouchercon to which I'd arrived by car (from Montreal to Toronto in the company of Jacques Filippi and Karen Salvalaggio, the latter of whom learned much about maple doughnuts, while all three of us practiced swearing in Yiddish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Quebecois French). It was in no way Jacques' fault that a normally five-and-half-hour trip took eight. The soothing presence of Karin, Jacques, and Tim Hortons eased any angst that the endless highway construction might otherwise have caused.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPV37Mitxam6r6MeUkidK_xMB9fQX_2Ut1U3lF1Kj_KMxTJ5X37BL_2rItiJHd6rjHizc6e6dULOBXo6gwf0SN5a-2P6bvukPijjT9_U3Va3BnfqHpHHlZtLDOoeodZvPpNma-/s1600/BConKarin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPV37Mitxam6r6MeUkidK_xMB9fQX_2Ut1U3lF1Kj_KMxTJ5X37BL_2rItiJHd6rjHizc6e6dULOBXo6gwf0SN5a-2P6bvukPijjT9_U3Va3BnfqHpHHlZtLDOoeodZvPpNma-/s200/BConKarin.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Karin Salvalaggio</b></span></td></tr>
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6) It was the first Bouchercon for whose <a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/anthology/"><span style="color: blue;">story anthology</span></a> I served as a judge.<br />
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7) My first panels, as either panelist or moderator, with <a href="http://davidpoulsen.com/"><span style="color: blue;">David Poulsen</span></a>, Alex Gray, Margaret Cannon, <a href="http://www.thomasenger.net/"><span style="color: blue;">Thomas Enger</span></a>, <a href="https://www.leonardowild.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Leonardo Wild</span></a>, and Timothy Williams.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7mPp_aTKiiVNrKRoLRS0OLjeAPgeeAlZI4x5M73-XQPFIAR_LY_n4UZ9v0Il5oMe6tsHYR-DEyXXf2ZK0rAqUveg10bDpkN9UdGU9wW-oS2GTkMPt36yTnydRuL-4en04pzqT/s1600/BConTemperance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="763" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7mPp_aTKiiVNrKRoLRS0OLjeAPgeeAlZI4x5M73-XQPFIAR_LY_n4UZ9v0Il5oMe6tsHYR-DEyXXf2ZK0rAqUveg10bDpkN9UdGU9wW-oS2GTkMPt36yTnydRuL-4en04pzqT/s320/BConTemperance.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Toronto street where I lived when not<br />dining with Karin, Jacques, and Martin<br />Edwards</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslZdI2hVmXrCLAeaQZLPq-YrzC-nzq3dLKSAHo-BAjyMTQUM6IxZXJbsx1PnglpNTs4c9Nkhbzu_6xCMtO2DwUF-_Bn0poFKG0QNA1TgiXrE8kojDyMucrqDCK6yx5FH5gTaz/s1600/BConPruitt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslZdI2hVmXrCLAeaQZLPq-YrzC-nzq3dLKSAHo-BAjyMTQUM6IxZXJbsx1PnglpNTs4c9Nkhbzu_6xCMtO2DwUF-_Bn0poFKG0QNA1TgiXrE8kojDyMucrqDCK6yx5FH5gTaz/s1600/BConPruitt.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Eryk Pruitt</b></span></td></tr>
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8) My first experience of <a href="http://www.sarahweinman.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Sarah Weinman</span></a> as a moderator. Sarah chaired the "History of the Genre" panel in which I took part, alongside Poulsen, Gray, Cannon, and Martin Edwards. Moderating: one more thing Sarah does well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pcSPw-IsrGs8R2GaKzVq-nI9BiPSJNDjAeTdNrjDz9-cvpPFviT7ULbLUDrkLTiCjP5csybFundyQiFz5sf4oZWKpfxTbz_cgka_nFGr6Wt1zcIyXxAgrDAmN_7ib7mDhHvp/s1600/BConNB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pcSPw-IsrGs8R2GaKzVq-nI9BiPSJNDjAeTdNrjDz9-cvpPFviT7ULbLUDrkLTiCjP5csybFundyQiFz5sf4oZWKpfxTbz_cgka_nFGr6Wt1zcIyXxAgrDAmN_7ib7mDhHvp/s400/BConNB.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Noir at the Bar</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMWw1Kkz4LPX9HEsxByZYbp3TAL8GXrXD4EOarTTUVgqqdWQQOpPuCeq46pOG59W09SBG8910RzUP0cxn9YiPvgDC6XNTGLwqUhX2UN104K8NHjZSbcutH2P71W_LFNrg6odk/s1600/BConConleyStringer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="960" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMWw1Kkz4LPX9HEsxByZYbp3TAL8GXrXD4EOarTTUVgqqdWQQOpPuCeq46pOG59W09SBG8910RzUP0cxn9YiPvgDC6XNTGLwqUhX2UN104K8NHjZSbcutH2P71W_LFNrg6odk/s320/BConConleyStringer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Jen Conley, Jay Stringer</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxqyC2Qn2TmFsj8jgRwMLCPaUWzrhZxbdBCOXzLrMFLNKeuCk8X_UN5Gq_4P4U-Bg5hOcUUDhgeQSCjZhFHSGPRoJjl8DdRxzrJcsILxIGzrxKOV407Y-vqYWZsbL9-sNYGy3/s1600/BConSullivanSharp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="837" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxqyC2Qn2TmFsj8jgRwMLCPaUWzrhZxbdBCOXzLrMFLNKeuCk8X_UN5Gq_4P4U-Bg5hOcUUDhgeQSCjZhFHSGPRoJjl8DdRxzrJcsILxIGzrxKOV407Y-vqYWZsbL9-sNYGy3/s320/BConSullivanSharp.jpg" width="279" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Karen Sullivan, Zoe Sharp</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXt55v-eRpJybtuu_Lt73zUfDsiifPgGL6FVzeKbi2i7RixgOoKLtp0CANdfIz0xgKY0VKtHICRXZnu6XWdIFLgIvWadoeeD6i5OBJ2k3pnZDCCRdo2hpUDfm-c_yVtnn9YA7/s1600/BConWongEnger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXt55v-eRpJybtuu_Lt73zUfDsiifPgGL6FVzeKbi2i7RixgOoKLtp0CANdfIz0xgKY0VKtHICRXZnu6XWdIFLgIvWadoeeD6i5OBJ2k3pnZDCCRdo2hpUDfm-c_yVtnn9YA7/s320/BConWongEnger.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">S.G. Wong, Thomas Enger</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkb0TQXNA5ZaJ1SH_om5D1OAyA9vf-Hr6_4PQ3xsUwDD3antvpYMtdS1jWwXLL0tZEBDorJ2Ox_laMnaF2RxcvDD1PbwjgWKURNrjBF4RKXt4oIZMAOOamKCW3WrGfTRhcVLY/s1600/BConMorellCleevesYrsa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="960" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkb0TQXNA5ZaJ1SH_om5D1OAyA9vf-Hr6_4PQ3xsUwDD3antvpYMtdS1jWwXLL0tZEBDorJ2Ox_laMnaF2RxcvDD1PbwjgWKURNrjBF4RKXt4oIZMAOOamKCW3WrGfTRhcVLY/s200/BConMorellCleevesYrsa.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>David Morrell, Ann Cleeves,<br />Yrsa Sigurðardóttir</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbVZbZfqDGeZe7bRFTkdnMNrJ_tDRpFyMAUMGAvVzjEhyML6ayccmL2xUw7eU0srSWo6e5Thj8EnIvumCqRWei80neWkij90kwfZ2GPrRr-x5JetSjcbnOs3Nl3ZtgAvaGYAa/s1600/BConDeverellCraig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbVZbZfqDGeZe7bRFTkdnMNrJ_tDRpFyMAUMGAvVzjEhyML6ayccmL2xUw7eU0srSWo6e5Thj8EnIvumCqRWei80neWkij90kwfZ2GPrRr-x5JetSjcbnOs3Nl3ZtgAvaGYAa/s200/BConDeverellCraig.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">William Deverell, Craig Sisterson</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCeHdGVFxm5B1gtg4MaUJJDOBLYXX4qcWo6KAR2i2EElaSviEdj1m1sYb8WYPhhAaYkVw1b7aLbLnArOWuD0ex0jViVMg6lGiZjSqop8TtnL7yfQOMspUnneYtcBzhvGdF-rg/s1600/BConSoosar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="674" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCeHdGVFxm5B1gtg4MaUJJDOBLYXX4qcWo6KAR2i2EElaSviEdj1m1sYb8WYPhhAaYkVw1b7aLbLnArOWuD0ex0jViVMg6lGiZjSqop8TtnL7yfQOMspUnneYtcBzhvGdF-rg/s320/BConSoosar.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Jennifer Soosar</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfg2AEeILGgeFkzXTNTeFm91A59AEvxMNULBaQyyrq6aRs0NpKl-gf03ifgZFk61oACpWWozBbd64p7nw_GK3pKxtDFHgTlcgc7o8qgNGglFeM7_Xj3juGnWW_w1ou0ydOLIX9/s1600/BConBrookmyreCotterill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="960" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfg2AEeILGgeFkzXTNTeFm91A59AEvxMNULBaQyyrq6aRs0NpKl-gf03ifgZFk61oACpWWozBbd64p7nw_GK3pKxtDFHgTlcgc7o8qgNGglFeM7_Xj3juGnWW_w1ou0ydOLIX9/s200/BConBrookmyreCotterill.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Christopher Brookmyre,<br />Colin Cotterill</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCN42Q6BNfl0EJ_rnz8Nlg5tgXSGg-Q_aZJi_oLEubGL4lRfGQTnFOr0-CzI1CDbzuGZMWW-7A8SG-esp6WI7SZyFk34a7rw_LHeCJGRyhvf-EaXtPDHrT8yl0MTlDRstHVaU/s1600/BCOnMcFetridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCN42Q6BNfl0EJ_rnz8Nlg5tgXSGg-Q_aZJi_oLEubGL4lRfGQTnFOr0-CzI1CDbzuGZMWW-7A8SG-esp6WI7SZyFk34a7rw_LHeCJGRyhvf-EaXtPDHrT8yl0MTlDRstHVaU/s200/BCOnMcFetridge.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">John McFetridge</span></b></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbloIGhnf2pZONZ5-U_NTxxhWZWabPJyoiJcuNZYST8uKHER4FmxoIpVIrGGFbWFNH8iDzDFNL38blTlSCBijSTOwsHU-aIcmwZxkKrHABBdJVEkTMncBt6q7mR2BNpv7MEU3/s1600/BCOnBerney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="960" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbloIGhnf2pZONZ5-U_NTxxhWZWabPJyoiJcuNZYST8uKHER4FmxoIpVIrGGFbWFNH8iDzDFNL38blTlSCBijSTOwsHU-aIcmwZxkKrHABBdJVEkTMncBt6q7mR2BNpv7MEU3/s320/BCOnBerney.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Lou Berney</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG1pfZjUSLB7WssJMjF4sLm3aSPhbVtg2crRNGdv0PBnOKXFbrtsjD2uvC-eQqPNrf8XZUN9xMkMREwubPW6pe2u0YyTHj6xTdPfCiua1OIZNXfNtu-53KKiBWKeFQwp8Hffiw/s1600/BCOnBeetner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="634" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG1pfZjUSLB7WssJMjF4sLm3aSPhbVtg2crRNGdv0PBnOKXFbrtsjD2uvC-eQqPNrf8XZUN9xMkMREwubPW6pe2u0YyTHj6xTdPfCiua1OIZNXfNtu-53KKiBWKeFQwp8Hffiw/s200/BCOnBeetner.jpg" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eric Beetner</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXAgCraxF8pe7aBUymnI1NAJgqIwgFGdkMOvwB6ggY7X8cpFufKoKDT5sepAzzmupL_W-ml_TQIWZi0qdCsYeaVVcG2_A7SAGGsa2SrzQQGD8VhyyBvfTUlsy8mnzjwnLDt3g/s1600/BConKendallAllred.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="960" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXAgCraxF8pe7aBUymnI1NAJgqIwgFGdkMOvwB6ggY7X8cpFufKoKDT5sepAzzmupL_W-ml_TQIWZi0qdCsYeaVVcG2_A7SAGGsa2SrzQQGD8VhyyBvfTUlsy8mnzjwnLDt3g/s200/BConKendallAllred.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Kay Kendall, Ryan Aldred</b></span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4WpnK8_0cgEISRNq3H5cJSi7re-R9ZXUzmneb_7TraEbVox5o6Lf3CGM58oDT6c10SBdvTc971Gco1s_m0blma9RNFatiVIClmRSAXZJ1eVGsF-QFcEfpYYVA21ifhG1__5Z/s1600/BConMason.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="597" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4WpnK8_0cgEISRNq3H5cJSi7re-R9ZXUzmneb_7TraEbVox5o6Lf3CGM58oDT6c10SBdvTc971Gco1s_m0blma9RNFatiVIClmRSAXZJ1eVGsF-QFcEfpYYVA21ifhG1__5Z/s200/BConMason.jpg" width="124" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jamie Mason</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadKMQgxI4rn5sKflj7W-KVYZMvL2oiXheBaI-yPLeToqSpw7RxWBlQEGEkwbH5ZNGt4DhUzyfPK6cFk1DRdGKD7Z04RmUDdzNNuCAPK2GYU2ojgahJz-XzQBwSeqnBbJ80Xr5/s1600/BconMtl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadKMQgxI4rn5sKflj7W-KVYZMvL2oiXheBaI-yPLeToqSpw7RxWBlQEGEkwbH5ZNGt4DhUzyfPK6cFk1DRdGKD7Z04RmUDdzNNuCAPK2GYU2ojgahJz-XzQBwSeqnBbJ80Xr5/s200/BconMtl.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Three guys from Montreal: <br />Kevin Burton Smith, <br />Jacques Filippi, me</b></span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UHngvai-iyE2uY9LXH74K0M0yrPoDjPISOEli6q0vxDApXq0bfqBbEm2y62t-r6N35C_AwP1IpTlnUoYUHHiQukwAeYb6eEgm2ck_0waLoVfbqhpNCPnzeVXVufgfxhiK13S/s1600/BConEmelieSchepp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="942" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UHngvai-iyE2uY9LXH74K0M0yrPoDjPISOEli6q0vxDApXq0bfqBbEm2y62t-r6N35C_AwP1IpTlnUoYUHHiQukwAeYb6eEgm2ck_0waLoVfbqhpNCPnzeVXVufgfxhiK13S/s200/BConEmelieSchepp.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Emelie Schepp</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrz11gM8FpbbrVNRxiICpDgcQpm6nrbzxMytN-S6eUc8Zzg5oeVy-V7UbO2HBCz6uXxB2HuCMyUlsu7QbTl-ZzaxFCylJ-9KVmh12uRCNjpy9afuw4wze8g9HAVyLhYf92CTeX/s1600/BCOnRObertson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="206" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrz11gM8FpbbrVNRxiICpDgcQpm6nrbzxMytN-S6eUc8Zzg5oeVy-V7UbO2HBCz6uXxB2HuCMyUlsu7QbTl-ZzaxFCylJ-9KVmh12uRCNjpy9afuw4wze8g9HAVyLhYf92CTeX/s320/BCOnRObertson.jpg" width="118" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Craig Robertson</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-91786409476979716192017-10-03T19:30:00.000-04:002017-10-03T19:36:28.590-04:00Sen and sensibility: Detectives Beyond Borders schmoozes three Nobel Prize winners<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3Qg1qK0YHzv8EtI8CvWQivoSOfwZf0AF7KvFPPNF8YlFX-eNiCvAST9O7qfIOhk5GTk7hvOyOSXQcCs6C_vQb5G1Qa9t0i2w6IPSpteai7lHRICPGaX_jTXHM0Hp7XMNTgrd/s1600/argumentative.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3Qg1qK0YHzv8EtI8CvWQivoSOfwZf0AF7KvFPPNF8YlFX-eNiCvAST9O7qfIOhk5GTk7hvOyOSXQcCs6C_vQb5G1Qa9t0i2w6IPSpteai7lHRICPGaX_jTXHM0Hp7XMNTgrd/s1600/argumentative.jpg" width="208" /></a>
<i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span>n honor of </i><a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/year/?year=2017"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Nobel Prize announcement season</b></span></a><i>, I bring back this post, which I promise to update the next time I have coffee with a Nobel laureate.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span>he number of Nobel laureates with whom I have exchanged pleasant words grew to three this week when I attended a lecture by <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/1998/sen-bio.html"><span style="color: blue;">Amartya Sen</span></a>, who won the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1998 for his work on poverty, famine, and welfare economics.<br />
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"You can't have a humane society without considerations beyond your own interests," Sen told his audience at the Free Library of Philadelphia, and if that's a surprise from an economist, consider Wikipedia's summation of the economics classic with which Sen began his lecture. That book's author<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"critically examines the moral thinking of his time, and suggests that conscience arises from social relationships. His goal in writing the work was to explain the source of mankind's ability to form moral judgements, in spite of man's natural inclinations towards self-interest. [He] proposes a theory of sympathy, in which the act of observing others makes people aware of themselves and the morality of their own behavior."</i></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpE96udhzyp8ZKM3cqXSLZBcM-OTFEhRPOVdgPhtub_pihtftqZvwbUFlKSMq2BNaH6Opf01i7ipp_6aHYNlqA_2_yQ21JJnTNn5abzCjvXMcydIzxcjoNTjuQG8gUZQeaT-s6/s1600/23OEB_UNCERTAIN_JP_1526620e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpE96udhzyp8ZKM3cqXSLZBcM-OTFEhRPOVdgPhtub_pihtftqZvwbUFlKSMq2BNaH6Opf01i7ipp_6aHYNlqA_2_yQ21JJnTNn5abzCjvXMcydIzxcjoNTjuQG8gUZQeaT-s6/s1600/23OEB_UNCERTAIN_JP_1526620e.jpg" width="208" /></a>
If you know as little as I do about the literature of economics, you may be surprised to learn that the economist in question is Adam Smith — you know, the invisible-hand, self-interest guy (The book is <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Moral_Sentiments"><span style="color: blue;">The Theory of Moral Sentiments</span></a></i>, the Penguin Classics edition of which comes with an introduction by Sen.)</div>
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I won't bore you with statistics and numbers, because Sen didn't bore me with them. Rather, he made the simple case that social factors, ethics, and indices of social well-being and misery all have a place at the economist's table, and he did so without turning preachy or dogmatic. In short, he's the kind of professor who might have made me an economics major had we crossed paths when I was in college.<br />
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Sen moves beyond the traditional purview of economics when he talks and writes about India, where he was born in 1933. His essays in <i>The Argumentative Indian</i> make the case that dissent, heterodoxy, and respect for opposing viewpoints have been integral to Indian culture at least from the time of Arjuna's debate with Krishna in the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita"><span style="color: blue;">Bhagavad Gita</span></a></i> and constitute a touchstone of India's present and its future. And that constitutes his rebuttal to the chauvinist, nationalist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindutva"><span style="color: blue;">Hindutva</span></a> movement in Indian politics, whose apparently organized campaign on Amazon has done so much to generate interest in Wendy Doniger's book <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hindus:_An_Alternative_History"><i><span style="color: blue;">The Hindus: An Alternative History</span></i></a>.<br />
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"Oh, yes! They have attacked me!" Sen said as he signed my copy of <i>The Argumentative Indian</i>.<br />
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"Be proud of your one-star reviews!" I replied. If the line of autograph-seekers behind me had not stretched a fair way down a hallway, we'd have high-fived.<br />
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(My previous most personal contact with a Nobel winner came in 1986, when I sipped coffee with <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1997/fo-bio.html"><span style="color: blue;">Dario Fo</span></a>, the Italian actor/playwright, who ordered decaf because he needed sleep. He regarded his envelope of Sanka with suspicion before tearing, pouring, stirring, and sipping. Then he made a face, shook his head sadly, and said in the one language we could speak with something approaching mutual comprehension, "<i>Détestable</i>!" <br />
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(My third Nobel encounter was more memorable for the beautiful, philo-Semitic water polo fan in line behind me as we waited for Isaac Bashevis Singer to sign our books. "Tell him something in Yiddish!" she said. Alas, the moment did not mark the beginning of a torrid fling.)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>S</b></span>en's dynamic view of the Sanskrit classics sent me in search of <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata"><span style="color: blue;">The Mahābhārata</span></a></i>. To my delight, the opening of that ancient book suggests that it may be as glorious a celebration of storytelling as <i>The Thousand and One Nights</i>. I doubt if I'll write a complete review any time soon, though. <i>The Mahābhārata</i> is variously said to be seven, 10, or 11 times as a long as <i>The Iliad </i>and <i>The Odyssey</i> put together.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 29px;">© Peter Rozovsky 2014 </span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-68929067110544347632017-09-26T16:28:00.001-04:002017-09-26T22:05:02.975-04:00Bouchercon 2017: A photographic gallery of Canadians<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrBMVc9WuLAz1qxoxAmwyCQqqx_ChilumWS1cWh-zGwdn3rsoMg2cJE7x5UnZiZEDQbE7KBJUOxFv2zp3Hn2VOFaK8wqk4RKBdRNH2ZzUMOhBT1mbcrmbhHgnUk2zd_CUuan4/s1600/000000000000000000BoucherconLogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="700" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrBMVc9WuLAz1qxoxAmwyCQqqx_ChilumWS1cWh-zGwdn3rsoMg2cJE7x5UnZiZEDQbE7KBJUOxFv2zp3Hn2VOFaK8wqk4RKBdRNH2ZzUMOhBT1mbcrmbhHgnUk2zd_CUuan4/s200/000000000000000000BoucherconLogo.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>B</b></span>ouchercon 2017</span></a> in Toronto happens in two weeks. Here are some photos I shot at previous Bouchercons. I've been attending Bouchercons since 2008, but these photos date from the modern era, which began in 2014 (Long Beach), when I bought my first good digital camera.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil0CJU4zmEqkG1kv0ZEEghyphenhyphenek6aFD6QiUA_CRJHeei76Hy3PO-uo6x_aF6usjce48Iu-h1Nh_OhqQouEtfPP19AqlP2jAeDZhvxzKAbtjIU_RbLBLy1-7VoGGZJgIXcqDa0IiS/s1600/BCOMcFetMcFet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="673" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil0CJU4zmEqkG1kv0ZEEghyphenhyphenek6aFD6QiUA_CRJHeei76Hy3PO-uo6x_aF6usjce48Iu-h1Nh_OhqQouEtfPP19AqlP2jAeDZhvxzKAbtjIU_RbLBLy1-7VoGGZJgIXcqDa0IiS/s400/BCOMcFetMcFet.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
First up is <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search/label/John%20McFetridge"><span style="color: blue;">John McFetridge</span></a>, who writes terrific crime novels, always volunteers to help out at Bouchercon, and has a big role in hosting the 2017 version in the city where he lives.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagHDs76GSR2tGwHKhDKv9ZXLhCRx_oKeYIF9BuyQVULH5f2nbFfnqWoWoadwF_Wo977BKMSCWjaLSi9q6HLBk2EocQwstjO6lhzQBp7oRzs8ppcUOgcH7OHnhmaaqZD4xKIq1/s1600/BCOWeinman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="876" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagHDs76GSR2tGwHKhDKv9ZXLhCRx_oKeYIF9BuyQVULH5f2nbFfnqWoWoadwF_Wo977BKMSCWjaLSi9q6HLBk2EocQwstjO6lhzQBp7oRzs8ppcUOgcH7OHnhmaaqZD4xKIq1/s320/BCOWeinman.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
Next, Sarah Weinman, a member of a panel I moderated at Bouchercon 2015 in Raleigh. Sarah will return the favor in Toronto when she leads a panel called "<b><a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2017/07/bouchercon-2017-in-which-ill-answer.html"><span style="color: blue;">History of the Genre</span></a></b>," on which I make my first Bouchercon appearance as a panelist.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAubykGRmZNWFi3EP16oYLBKQa9D-dT-IbKpL_yymRahTeSPO5kEE594R-TwIhW65Y-G4N2GbfIxfcxRPlbUfnNWBNeF3wSf9DGUG86rBwGz8A-5CvkojT_H83wP62JIll9jD/s1600/BCOFilippi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="633" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAubykGRmZNWFi3EP16oYLBKQa9D-dT-IbKpL_yymRahTeSPO5kEE594R-TwIhW65Y-G4N2GbfIxfcxRPlbUfnNWBNeF3wSf9DGUG86rBwGz8A-5CvkojT_H83wP62JIll9jD/s320/BCOFilippi.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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Sticking to the Canadian theme for a Canadian Bouchercon, here's Jacques Filippi, co-editor with John McFetridge of the upcoming <a href="http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/montreal-noir-canada/"><i><span style="color: blue;">Montreal Noir</span></i></a> collection from Akashic Books. This is a rare bar photo, from Bouchercon 2015.<br />
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Finally, Dietrich Kalteis, on a panel in Bouchercon 2014, with Cara Black. Dietrich is from Vancouver, so the photo has 50 percent Canadian content.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-46535905141480608162017-09-16T00:27:00.000-04:002017-09-16T00:27:45.180-04:00Egyptian noir, noisy Parker, quiet Melville<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>S</b></span>ome question and observations from my recent spate of crime-movie viewing:<br />
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When did movies become music videos? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_to_the_Gallows"><span style="color: blue;"><i>Elevator to the Gallows</i></span></a> used a small-group Miles Davis soundtrack to enhance the story mood. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Lucky"><span style="color: blue;"><i>Logan Lucky</i></span></a>, decades later and an ocean away, on the other hand, acts as if its viewers are incapable of processing, feeling, or thinking anything without a song to tell them what to do. And, if its opening scene, as offered on movie theater web sites, is characteristic of the movie as a whole, <i>Baby Driver</i> is even worse. </li>
<li>The above made me grateful for those considerable stretches of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Cercle_Rouge"><span style="color: blue;"><i>Le Cercle Rouge</i></span></a> and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_flic"><span style="color: blue;">Un Flic</span></a> </i>where Jean-Pierre Melville let ambient sound tell the story.</li>
<li>Melville (or his sound engineers) used sound more subtly than did John Boorman (or his sound engineers) in the roughly contemporaneous<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Blank_(1967_film)"><span style="color: blue;">Point Blank</span></a></i>, based on <i>The Hunter</i>, Richard Stark's first novel featuring the affectless heistman Parker. The overamplified footsteps of Lee Marvin in the latter film are overkill, one of that movie's few, er, missteps.<i> Le Cercle Rouge</i> and<i> Un Flic</i> came near the end of Melville's career, while <i>Point Blank</i> was one of Boorman's earliest efforts. Could maturity have been responsible for Melville's resistance to gimmickry?</li>
<li><i>Point Blank</i> is at or near the top of nearly everybody's best Parker adaptations, and it deserves to be there. But Boorman and Lee Marvin's Walker is not Stark's Parker. He's very much more rattled, conflicted, closer to being sucked up into the chaos of his time that Parker ever was. Perhaps that's because Stark's novel appeared in 1962, Boorman's movie in neurotic, psychedelic 1967. </li>
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Melville's movies look even better than they sound. Particularly in <i>Un Flic</i>, Melville's visual aesthetics (or <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0941857/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr4"><span style="color: blue;">his cinematographer</span></a>'s) are much like what I try to do in my own photography.</li>
<li><i>Logan Lucky</i> has a distinctive look, too, thanks mostly to the cast, whose stolid, care-worn expressions are an eloquent counterpart to the glitzy commercialism of Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of the movie's central heist. The director, Stephen Soderbergh, knew what he wanted from his cast, and his cast knew how to deliver. Kudos to all.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5540188/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm"><i><span style="color: blue;">The Nile Hilton Incident</span></i></a> is the first noir(ish) movie I can recall set in Egypt. It has sex and it has police corruption, both familiar ingredients of American crime writing, but its time and place (Egypt, the "Arab Spring" in 2011) lend a sharper edge to the latter. The movie makes me want to look up <i>Z</i> and <i>The Battle of Algiers</i>.</li>
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<li> The movie's protagonist, a relatively upright Cairo police officer named Noredin Mostafa, gets comically exasperated in an Internet shop, a scene that filled me with nostalgia for interesting experiences I'd had at public Internet cafes and shops in Tunisia, Croatia, and Germany. (My favorite was the Tunisian bloke who was about to get married and who, when I ran into him as I updated my blog at a Tunis Internet store, was browsing photos of prospective Russian brides. Or maybe it was the manager of the Internet shop in Split with whom I discussed Caetano Veloso and who confided that his dream was to see Neil Young in concert.) </li>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-47406451336080518102017-09-03T22:17:00.000-04:002017-09-03T22:27:14.263-04:00Adrian McKinty wins another award<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A</b></span>drian McKinty's novel</i> <b>Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly</b> <i>has won <a href="https://blog.booktopia.com.au/2017/09/04/australias-best-crime-writers/"><span style="color: blue;">Australia's Ned Kelly Award for best crime novel</span></a>. The award follows his capture of the Best Paperback Original prize at the <a href="http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html"><span style="color: blue;">Edgar Awards</span></a> in New York this past spring for </i><b>Rain Dogs</b><i>. Here's what I had to say about</i> <b>Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly</b> <i>earlier this year.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A</b></span>drian McKinty's Sean Duffy series, now six novels into what was once called the Troubles Trilogy, keeps getting better and better.<br />
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The language is gorgeous, the characters are endearing, the atmosphere full both of humor and of off-hand, everyday life, menacing and otherwise. With this much good crime writing coming out of Northern Ireland, how can anyone mention the Nordic countries in the same breath? Hell, how about the rest of the world? With McKinty ably supported by a cast that includes Stuart Neville just as a start, why is Northern Ireland not routinely numbered among the world's great crime fiction locations?<br />
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McKinty's books portray their settings as vividly as do <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search/label/Arnaldur%20Indri%C3%B0ason"><span style="color: blue;">Arnaldur Indriðason</span></a>'s Erlendur novels, set in Iceland (and they're a lot funnier). His Sean Duffy is as endearingly flawed as Andrea Camilleri's <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search/label/Salvo%20Montalbano"><span style="color: blue;">Salvo Montalbano</span></a> (Poetry and music are to Duffy what food is to Montalbano, and the two characters lead similarly complicated romantic lives, although— but you'll have to read Book Six, the recently released <i>Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly</i>, to complete that thought.) McKinty's Belfast is every bit as vivid a crime fiction locale as <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search?q=izzo"><span style="color: blue;">Jean-Claude Izzo</span></a>'s Marseille. And he turns as unsparing an eye on that locale as <a href="http://www.scandinavianbooks.com/crime-book/swedish-author/sjowall-wahloo.html"><span style="color: #3333ff;">Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö</span></a> did on Sweden in their Martin Beck novels <br />
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Not only that, but McKinty deftly takes on any number of traditional mystery and crime tropes, and the Duffy series and their protagonist are erudite without being condescending. McKinty <a href="http://adrianmckinty.blogspot.com/2016/06/genre-fiction-and-bad-prose.html"><span style="color: blue;">has also long attacked the notion that a writer's style ought to be workmanlike and invisible</span></a>. He champions David Peace and James Ellroy, for example, so you know you're bound to find a gorgeous passage or two, prose you can relish for its own sake, in every book. And if you listen to books, you're in for a treat. Gerard Doyle, the reader of the Sean Duffy audiobooks, is a master of accents, and he gives each character a distinct voice without ever descending to bathos and exaggeration. The audio versions pair the best of crime novels with the best of audiobook readers.<br />
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(The five previous Sean Duffy novels are <i>The Cold, Cold Ground</i>; <i>I Hear the Sirens in the Street;</i> <i>In the Morning I'll be Gone;</i> <i>Gun Street Girl;</i> and <i>Rain Dogs</i>. I've been a McKinty fan for years. Read <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search?q=adrian+mckinty"><span style="color: blue;">all my Detectives Beyond Borders posts about his work</span></a>.)<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-31539620669341082492017-09-01T20:47:00.004-04:002017-09-01T20:48:02.154-04:00New noir photos<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2J8ihL_yKzRW0ueCL76iIbIpgLplnTarro3FXnPaQiwJlsT9EZhFz6Ia_QMe1ZjPxJtaXn2__GRjRTCps-VZ1UCMf-Kry-jOE0cmrIbsZaOwnagd8SmZmJYCHuOET02ri4vF8/s1600/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2J8ihL_yKzRW0ueCL76iIbIpgLplnTarro3FXnPaQiwJlsT9EZhFz6Ia_QMe1ZjPxJtaXn2__GRjRTCps-VZ1UCMf-Kry-jOE0cmrIbsZaOwnagd8SmZmJYCHuOET02ri4vF8/s400/000000000000000000000000000000ShadowChairs.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photos by Peter Rozovsky for<br />Detectives Beyond Borders</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-80333950499091633752017-08-26T17:29:00.000-04:002017-08-26T17:33:40.800-04:00There goes the bride: A Bouchercon 2009 chase scene<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtvd6O3fuA85Y0emPrbJvARFbp3lV-e8xwTPXefcuAybaqhj9_zXjdk3saVWFTC_GClSRRxdd6BQ5gci7iUU1AGCWmxy_FAeNZWoSm_7k01vK2WjXYkf9E8caObBQxDl6zgkw/s1600/000000000000000000000000Bouchercon2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="700" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirtvd6O3fuA85Y0emPrbJvARFbp3lV-e8xwTPXefcuAybaqhj9_zXjdk3saVWFTC_GClSRRxdd6BQ5gci7iUU1AGCWmxy_FAeNZWoSm_7k01vK2WjXYkf9E8caObBQxDl6zgkw/s320/000000000000000000000000Bouchercon2017.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span>'m preparing for <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2017/08/bouchercon-panels-are-up.html"><span style="color: blue;">my two panels at Bouchercon 2017 in Toronto</span></a>. In the meantime, here's a post about an odd spectacle from Bouchercon 2009 in Indianapolis.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: 78%;">(Photos courtesy of Anita Thompson)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirm_pePBzviUvA1IUKc0uMSDjLKyYuujvqV7ST14nGwdppuC1NBaYbgZtsPP17gvsqz5AsyVvcJhSwVDW-FP5lgn3FwSF5KdoCa3opey8BfJJZ3rEzcLjvfuXWc_xHW9T1dKqKRw/s1600-h/March+of+the+Bridesmaids1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396795917247021106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirm_pePBzviUvA1IUKc0uMSDjLKyYuujvqV7ST14nGwdppuC1NBaYbgZtsPP17gvsqz5AsyVvcJhSwVDW-FP5lgn3FwSF5KdoCa3opey8BfJJZ3rEzcLjvfuXWc_xHW9T1dKqKRw/s320/March+of+the+Bridesmaids1.jpg" style="float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 205px;" /></a>Our small gang had set out for a late lunch and agent's party at Bouchercon when we met what appeared to be a body of vestal virgins delivering pizza.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBfDNNMo3RH0YyxP8OkFDuc_RmMF3LCaMBJ0-U4WkQPHduXVTijw_YPlymDcs7J0nMu5z7qfI5uz2ajYyVfeSXZFM59FmyG2sPruCKm02O4uA5-9cMaZuTRL5rJ6Udvj6Ikx7SzA/s1600-h/War+Memorial+and+Martian+building2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396793219057183618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBfDNNMo3RH0YyxP8OkFDuc_RmMF3LCaMBJ0-U4WkQPHduXVTijw_YPlymDcs7J0nMu5z7qfI5uz2ajYyVfeSXZFM59FmyG2sPruCKm02O4uA5-9cMaZuTRL5rJ6Udvj6Ikx7SzA/s320/War+Memorial+and+Martian+building2.jpg" style="float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 115px;" /></a>"Have you seen a bride?" one of them asked me.<br />
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Alas, I had not.<br />
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I don't know if they ever found what they were looking for, but Bridesmaid #1 seemed determined to lead the satin-swathed entourage through every park and monument in downtown Indianapolis if she had to.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396743917850590946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24pYI2x8LarPfVmIv3ANOe1c2trkutVxTiaZ__A1jyrETaJeo4j3Sm3PIvNiQYgb6Pym5FRsvLgBwPXo0zIGPyrpIpiI5eaAf9_1nOijIXEL30P05F3YkK84eqCbOTOeIQdz_Lg/s320/War_Memorial_and_Martian_building.jpg" style="float: right; height: 116px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 52px;" />Later we saw a banquet setting up at the restaurant where we'd gone for the lunch/agent's shindig — a wedding reception, perhaps? — but no bridal party.<br />
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Sounds like a mystery to me.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 78%;">© Peter Rozovsky 2009</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com70tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-40431679296239610892017-08-24T15:32:00.002-04:002017-08-24T15:39:53.597-04:00Bouchercon panels are up!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">P</span></b>anel schedules for <a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Bouchercon 2017</span></a> have been posted, and I'll take part in two sessions, including <a href="http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/2017/07/bouchercon-2017-in-which-ill-answer.html"><span style="color: blue;">my first as a panelist rather than a moderator</span></a>.<br />
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On Thursday, Oct. 12, at 11:30 a.m., <a href="http://www.sarahweinman.com/"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Sarah Weinman</b></span></a> will lead me, <b><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/search/?q=margaret+cannon+books"><span style="color: blue;">Margaret Cannon</span></a></b>, <a href="http://www.martinedwardsbooks.com/"><b><span style="color: blue;">Martin Edwards</span></b></a>, <b><a href="http://www.alex-gray.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Alex Gray</span></a></b>, and <a href="http://davidpoulsen.com/"><b><span style="color: blue;">David A. Poulsen</span></b></a> in a session called "<b>History of the Genre: Covering decades of good mysteries and its subgenres</b>." Sarah is the North American Martin Edwards, and Martin is the British Sarah Weinman. No sharper and more knowledgeable crime fiction minds exist on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. Margaret is crime fiction critic for the Toronto Globe and Mail, and Alex and David are two authors new to me, which is one of the pleasures of Bouchercon panels.<br />
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On Friday at 5 p.m., I resume the moderator's role, talking crime fiction in Norway, Thailand, Cambodia, Iceland, Ecuador, and Italy, <b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.thomasenger.net/">Thomas Enger</a></span></b>, <b><a href="http://www.cgmoore.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Christopher G. Moore</span></a></b>, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, <b><a href="https://www.leonardowild.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Leonardo Wild</span></a></b>, and <b><a href="http://timothywilliamsbooks.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Timothy Williams</span></a></b>. The panel is called "<b>Across the Ponds</b>," I've already begun assembling my questions, and I'll see you there.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">F</span></b>ollow these links for the <a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/wp-content/uploads/1_ThursdayProgram.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">Thursday</span></a>, <a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/wp-content/uploads/2_FridayProgram.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">Friday</span></a>, <a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/wp-content/uploads/3_SaturdayProgram.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">Saturday</span></a>, and <a href="http://bouchercon2017.com/wp-content/uploads/4_SundayProgram.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">Sunday</span></a> schedules.Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34780139.post-50753079762836645152017-08-22T16:49:00.002-04:002017-08-22T16:51:29.083-04:00"We're in a Jam!": My first look at They Live By Night<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQPTQCW5hsYmcPeb1SKVpqMTBOrJsmVVnESzEssrhHFy7lX2JNA89VrZiB-Y0_GYGGERGEPu_OkqSgV1esK3Il3VGwacqrshvTxhkJiF8ZngL7E0yzGIYXezZy880mOxTS6CXt/s1600/000000000000000000They_Live_By_Night_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="257" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQPTQCW5hsYmcPeb1SKVpqMTBOrJsmVVnESzEssrhHFy7lX2JNA89VrZiB-Y0_GYGGERGEPu_OkqSgV1esK3Il3VGwacqrshvTxhkJiF8ZngL7E0yzGIYXezZy880mOxTS6CXt/s320/000000000000000000They_Live_By_Night_poster.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Live_by_Night"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span>he Wikipedia article on <i>They Live By Night</i></span></a>, Nicholas Ray's 1948 movie based on Edward Anderson's 1937 novel <i>Thieves Like Us</i>, offers interesting observations, and I have some of my own. First, Wikipedia:<br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Live_by_Night#Reception"><span style="color: blue;">Bosley Crowther's review of <i>They Live By Night</i></span></a>, included the following, according to the Wikipedia entry: <br />
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<i>"</i><b>Although it</b><i> ... </i><b>is misguided in its sympathies for a youthful crook, </b><i>this crime-and-compassion melodrama has the virtues of vigor and restraint ...</i><b> <i>They Live by Night</i> has the failing of waxing sentimental over crime</b><i>, but it manages to generate interest with its crisp dramatic movement and clear-cut types."</i></blockquote>
Those italicized bits are likely to raise eyebrows today, and, not knowing much about Crowther except his name, I have to wonder if he really hated noir as much as the first boldface bit makes it appear. I give Crowther a possible pass on the second highlighted portion. Though it seems almost as stridently moralistic as the first portion, many of the early film noirs were indeed sentimental, or at least melodramatic. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir#Problems_of_definition"><span style="color: blue;">Many American movies that came to be called film noir were, in fact, once referred to as melodramas</span></a>. <br />
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The Wiki article credits <i>They Live By Night</i> with being<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Live_by_Night#Production"><span style="color: blue;"> the first movie to include action scenes shot from a helicopter</span></a> and, indeed, its opening sequence is stunning, a gorgeous and compelling <i>in medias res</i> opening. A later shot from above, of fleeing crooks, seems heavy-handed, however, a telegraphing that the crooks are being observed and will be caught and come to a bad end. Here the technique has not dated well, probably no fault of Nicholas Ray's or cinematographer George E. Diskant. We're all so much more visually sophisticated than we were 70 years ago.<br />
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I'll save my own comments for later; this post grows long. The comments will likely revolved men and the city, women and the country, and the encounters between the first and the second in American crime novels and movies from the middle of the twentieth century. <br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Peter Rozovsky 2017</span>Peter Rozovskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.com0