Customer Reviews

Gun in Cheek: A Study of Alternative Crime Fiction

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Love mystery? Then you'll love this book. Hate mystery? Then YOU'LL love this book. Pronzini is a fount of information about the "best" (read:hilariously inept) in mystery fiction. He's read every book ever written in the genre, it seems, and shows genuine affection for the form. The fun he pokes at the authors and their works is gentle and doesn't distract at all from your wonderment at the fact that these books ever even existed. It might, however, make you want to seek them out and try for yourself. Or maybe it'll help prevent a misstep in purchasing a book you wouldn't end up enjoying. Either way, this book is worth a read (or three). These mystery authors have gone unsung for too long. Bravo Mr. Pronzini!

Along with books on how to write, any aspiring writer should have books on how NOT to write, and this one certainly fits the bill. It is crammed with examples of the worst in crime fiction, so it is not only a good instruction manual for helping you avoid the pitfalls of bad writing but provides a boost of morale to those who think their writing isn't up to snuff. Should be on your bookshelf next to The Stuffed Owl and Damon Knight's In Search of Wonder.

Absolutely hilarious. Pronzini's look at the worst in crime and detective fiction turns over some real gems of second (or third, or fourth)-rate 'literature.' The author deserves a vote of thanks for daring to enter into this dark world, and sincere congratulations for making it back out alive. I read this book quite a few summers ago and return to it frequently. For sheer entertainment, it's really tough to beat.

Do yourself a favor and find a copy of this book. But watch out for me: now that I see that Pronzini's done a follow-up, and a second book on Western lit, I'm going to be scouring the shelves myself.

Arthur Conan Doyle. James M. Cain. Raymond Chandler. Ross MacDonald. Eric Ambler. Agatha Christie. These are names that are familiar to most fans of mystery writing as the classic authors of the genre, who are still read and admired today. But what about Doyle's brother-in-law, E.W. Hornung? Or Sax Rohmer, the author of the much-imitated Fu Manchu series? Sidney Horler? Robert Leslie Bellem, A.E. Apple, Michael Morgan (the pen name of Teet Carle and Dean A. Dorn), Mary Roberts Rinehart (creator of "The Bat"), Hayden Norwood, Michael Avallone, Richard S. Prather? Who remembers and celebrates them? Bill Pronzini does, in this book about the deservedly forgotten mystery novel releases of decades past. To the author, all of the above writers were creators of at least one "alternative" classic, "alternative" in this case meaning laughable for either absurd plot contrivances, or ridiculous language, or bizarre characters, or a number of other offenses to good taste. Pronzini groups the writers roughly according to genre or period, and dwells on and quotes liberally from a few titles that really are packed with howlers.

It is important to point out that this is not just a book about bad writing from pathetic hacks. Some of the writers included here were very popular in their day. Carter Brown, for example, was (at the time of book's writing) the 3rd best selling mystery writer of them all, behind Mickey Spillane (sic), the undisputed champ, and Erle Stanley Gardner. Pronzini does not take any swipes at the champ (altho I wish he had), but he does take Brown to task for being "sophomoric." William Le Quex gets credit for being the grandfather of the British espionage novel, but as Pronzini demonstrates, his work was surpassed by greater talents, and it comes across as pretty musty and silly in the present day. Carroll John Daly shares credit with Dashiell Hammett for starting the "hard-boiled" school of tough detective stories; in fact he published his first story in 1923, shortly before Hammett, and was very popular in his time. But Pronzini points out that his prose was the inspiration for a lot of mediocre writing that followed.

"Gun in Cheek" is also a book about publishing companies. Without dwelling on them too extensively, Pronzini recalls a number of publishers from the past. Ace and their series of double books - 2 for the price of one. Turn the book around and upside down and there is another run-of-the-mill thriller. I remember seeing these in my distant youth. Phoenix Press is another that gets recalled, and it persisted for decades thru several transformations, along with its chief editor, Alice Sachs. Pronzini mentions a few other genres that sort of cross over into mystery on occasion, such as the gothic genre, established by Horace Walpole, which usually concern a lovely young lady and a house. A couple of Westerns cross over the line too. Pronzini stays away from romances and sci-fi and soap opera-type tales, altho they probably generated a large number of alternative classics of their own. The same goes for television and movie mysteries.

All in all, a very funny book for the discerning reader of mysteries, and one that could probably be updated today.

In this masterful work of research, Bill Pronzini presents his discoveries of mystery novels that are so ineptly-written that they are unintentionally hilarious. He gives summaries of mind-boggling plots that are expected to be taken seriously, and quotes many sentences and paragraphs which are so funny that I laughed out loud. (Pronzini's comments about them are humorous as well.) This book is entertaining enough that it still makes me laugh, even after multiple readings. It was nominated for an Edgar Award as Best Critical/Biographical Book of the Year; it deserved to win.

One drawback: Reading this book may send you on a search for bad mysteries with titles like "Murder Makes Me Mad." Don't say I didn't warn you.

A wonderful collection of snippets from spectacularly bad pulp writing. I remember loving some of the authors mentioned (Richard Prather in particular, but he knew he was spoofing). A real delight for fans of those old school mass-market paperbacks.