I recently read a couple of Elmore Leonard crime novels -- "Riding the Rap" and "Out of Sight".
I don't read that much contemporary fiction, nor do I have a deep background in crime fiction as a genre, so you'll have to make do with the remarks of a relatively ill informed reader.
I can see why Leonard is a both popular and respected writer. He knows how to structure a gripping narrative, and his dialogue rings true.
On a more critical note, I can imagine these two novels providing future students of US culture with material for a study of the anxieties and aspirations of middle class white men in an America seemingly riven with disorder.
In "Riding the Rap", Leonard's background as a writer of westerns comes across; the US marshal protagonist brings order to a lawless frontier by acting on his own initiative rather than a mere agent of a federal bureaucracy. Here though, the frontier is no longer in the west, but in Florida, and the threatening nonwhite others are no longer American Indians but a Puerto Rican hitman and a Black Bahamian immigrant who, as part of his assimilation to Black America, adopted an Islamic name.
Leonard's depiction of racial attitudes intersects with his representation of socioeconomic class distinctions. The two nonwhite criminals act for a while as henchmen to a drink and drug addled wealthy white playboy, whose kidnapping plan drives the plot forward. His exploitation of his senile mother's wealth and the revelation of her ugly racist attitudes point to the class and status tensions that exist between a decadent white upper class and the Appalachian coalmining heritage of the US marshal protagonist.
These racial and white populist themes recur in "Out of Sight", where middle aged, middle class, white bank robbers are contrasted with African American home invaders, the latter being characterized by their cruelty, treachery, idleness, lust, and greed.
In both novels the middle aged male protagonist beds a much younger female character; some readers might find these glimpses of the fantasy life of ageing men unintentionally ludicrous.
I think I'll reserve final judgment on Leonard until I've read another of his books. "Swag" is supposed to be good, but neither my local second bookstore nor my libraries have it available at the moment, and I don't want to pay full price for it.
#Books #ElmoreLeonard #USLiterature #CrimeFiction #RidingTheRap #OutOfSight #Race #Racism #Populism #USCulture
