Customer Reviews

Back to the Badlands: Crime Writing in the USA

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This excellent literary travelogue is a little bit of an odd beast in that it is essentially an updated version of William's 1989 book "Into the Badlands" (which I read about five years ago). Back then, Williams visited the U.S., interviewing various crime writers about their hometowns and their writing process. He then repeated the process in 2005, leading to this book. Williams' M.O. is to stay in a cheaper (i.e. seedier) parts of town and either walk around on his own in search of interesting bars or music stores, or get the writer he's meeting to give him an insider's tour. He's clearly a believer in crime fiction as social portraiture and commentary, and also has a bit of a music industry background. These perspectives combine to make him an interesting external chronicler of contemporary America.

The first hundred pages reprint portions from the 1989 edition on Miami (Carl Hiassen), New Orleans (James Lee Burke), Los Angeles (James Ellroy and Gar Anthony Haywood), Missoula (James Crumley), and Detroit (Elmore Leonard). These are interesting to read today not only for a perspective on how these various places have changed in the intervening 18 years, but for their insight on writers whose careers have since blossomed (the notable exception being Gar Anthony Haywood). A postscript gives a brief, and not always flattering, update on the career trajectories of these six writers.

Sharp readers will also find other little nuggets that have aged well -- for example, in the section about L.A., one of the people who hosts Williams is scruffy young intellectual named Mike Davis, who has since risen to international prominence as an urbanist. It's not clear why these particular sections were chosen for this edition, nor why the decision wasn't made to simply republish them all, but the "missing" chapters are available for free at Williams' web site. These include another section on Miami (James Hall), and chapters on New Mexico (Tony Hillerman), San Francisco (Joe Gores), Chicago (Sara Partesky, Eugene Izzi), Boston (George V. Higgins), and New York (Andrew Vachss).

Since his 1989 trip, Williams has gone on to write a series of excellent Cardiff-based crime novels himself (all of which are well worth seeking out). At the same time he's become more steeped in American crime writing, which gives the five newer chapters a touch more depth. Here, he visits Washington, D.C. (George Pelecanos), Hollywood Beach, FL (Vicki Hendricks), LA/San Diego (Ken Nunn), Austin (Jesse Sublett, Kinky Friedman), and the Ozarks (Daniel Woodrell). The only place in the whole book I'm particularly familiar with is D.C., and that chapter does a good job of giving the reader a taste of what the city is really like, and delivers a solid profile of Pelecanos (one of my favorite writers) as well.

The book concludes with a bittersweet epilogue in which Williams reflects on the change that's come about in the intervening 16 years between his trips. Of course the internet has made the enterprise of traveling to new places and discovering new authors much easier -- but he feels that something is lost in the process. In the literary world, he sees crime fiction emerging from its ghetto and standing with the mainstream. Most refreshingly, Williams isn't afraid to pull punches, noting that much of the best crime fiction now comes from other countries, and that several of the writers he originally interviewed in 1989 have spent the years cranking out commercial dross. The book is a must read for anyone interested in modern American crime writing, and will be of interest to anyone interested in an outsider's view of the U.S.

I enjoyed the 1989 edition a lot as the writer was young and seemed more full of energy in his wanderings and the interviews were with a top group of authors.

The 2007 edition is still pretty good but there was no need to have reprinted half the first book and this time the author seems to have gone off the tracks with some authors who don't have the oompth that the 1989 edition had.

The George Pelecanos section was excellent though.

Williams sets out to visit American cities where crime novels are set and to meet some of the most noted crime writers around. Mission accomplished. Too bad he didn't add "writing a captivating story" about the experience to his mission.

Mostly William's roams from bar to pub to tavern and muses about bad beer and the music in the background. On the occasion when Williams does hook up with a writer, the "interview" barely travel beyond a recounting of the author's titles and information that could be gathered from reading the authors bio's on their book flaps or other readily available resources.

If you are a newbie to crime, Williams does pick some great writers and titles - but I'd rather the list be a list rather than a weak travelogue.

Just skip to the bibliography in the back of Badlands and find something better to read.