You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up

A very strange book. Definitely not hardboiled noir in the sense of Hammett, Chandler, or Cain. More of a satire on California and Hollywood in particular, seen through the eyes of an outsider, which perhaps mirrors the author's own experience moving from England to the USA in his teens, then going on to become a Hollywood scriptwriter. For the most part, rather well written, but the characters tend to be rather mysterious with motivations (even of the protagonist) that aren't very apparent. The noir is blunted by the fact that we like the protagonist -- even as he does some things that aren't very admirable. The most mysterious character is his new love, the "Naked Mermaid" he meets in one of the strangest and most dreamlike passages show more I've ever read. The whole book has the atmosphere of a dream, in fact.

Read the ending a couple of times. I guess I was in a hurry to finish it the first time, and I kind of missed the implications.

So not classic noir, but definitely unique. show less

One of the great noir novels, it's the Grapes of Wrath of pulp and a keen indictment of California glitterati. There is everything to love about this book.

A completely deserved cult classic, and one of the shrewdest books ever written about California.

holy shit.