introducing readers to writers since 1995
March 26, 2004
Roger L. Simon: Mystery Writer, Blogger
by Ron HoganSarah alerts me to the existence of a blog written by Roger L. Simon, creator of the Moses Vine private eye series. But to me, he'll always be the author of Dead Meet, a Black Lizard paperback (originally titled Heir back in '68) I read in the early 1990s, just a few short months after having read Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho for the first time*... and let me tell you, the similarities were enough to make me stop and think carefully. Not that I could say anything definite one way or the other, and let's face it, the idea that the very wealthy are also the very corrupt, to the point of psychosis, isn't that terribly obscure.
* Yes, I've read American Psycho more than once. The first time was so I could have an informed opinion, the second was for academic research purposes, the third was around the time I saw the movie, which I found cold and lifeless, not at all like the Godardian bloodbath I thought it should be.
How funny--I found a copy of DEAD MEET in a used bookstore here in town, though I picked it up more as a curiosity because it *is* Roger's first book, and I think his voice fits more with the series. Which, by the way, is very good and highly sociopolitical (my favorite's probably PECKING DUCK, where Moses goes to China and all hell breaks loose.)
Posted by: Sarah at March 26, 2004 08:52 AMI've been checking out Simon's blog for a while now. I've yet to read any of his books, something I'll fix soon enough. Anyway, his main blogospheric niche is the stunningly corrupt UN Oil-For-Food program, which has pretty much been ignored by the mainstream media.
Posted by: bd at March 26, 2004 12:57 PMBeatrice -
Why apologise for reading American Psycho at all? Yes nauseating and yes repetitive, but I have a hard time recalling a half-dozen funnier 'literary' books, and charges of misogyny and sadism are stupid (it's a book about a misogynist sadist for God's sake - and the 'repetiveness' is in service of portraiture, not an excuse for lack of talent). Sorry for mentioning something so small, but I can't help but think that knee-jerk self defense is unnecessary in talking about one's literary tastes, unless one's friends/readers are judgmental assholes - which, this being the World Wide Amazing InterWebTVNetwork, might just be the case. :)
Keep up the good work, though. You're a regular stop on my blog-reading itinerary, one of the more enjoyable.
Posted by: Wax Banks at March 27, 2004 02:41 PMyour PayPal donation
can contribute towards its ongoing publication.
