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JAMESBJOHNSON
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THE EASIEST THING IN THE WORLD by George V. Higgins
Its a posthumous collection of Higgins' stories that were rejected by publishers. Mostly because theyre neither fish nor fowl, too long for short stories and too short for novels. And they suck.
Elmore Leonard said Higgins taught him how to write, and he said it after 20 years of solid hits and plenty of fame. Higgins spent those same 20 years rejected until THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE was published circa 1970. EDDIE COYLE is a small-time loser criminal, Higgins' unpublished efforts are about social elites fulla angst over ordinary life issues no one wants to read about. It didn't work the first time yet Higgins tried it again at the end of his life and it didn't work again.
What it was, was Higgins admired John O'Hara, and O'Hara knew social elites and knew where their sleaze was hidden. His debutantes are ever bit the whores their servants were, and O'Hara exposed it as he exposed the men. Higgins had no idea rich girls sucked cocks and had abortions. He knew bar maids and gun molls did. O'Hara had the rich girls attend cotillions with green 18 year old boys then slip away to fuck a married cop on the beach. Later the girls went to Florida with their parents for abortions at clinics close to their beach resorts while mom and dad sampled the local flora and fauna, also close at hand. O'Hara was the son of an MD who served rich people.
Higgins' best writing is entirely long monologues. Ask a character the time and you learn how to make a watch. Higgins knew how to make it work. But in the stories its equally long narrative of the navel gazing kind. It doesn't work because there's no feelings in it. It could be a lecture about sugar beet agriculture. His low-life criminals wanna kick guys in the nuts or they yell at black hookers who demand tips.
Its a posthumous collection of Higgins' stories that were rejected by publishers. Mostly because theyre neither fish nor fowl, too long for short stories and too short for novels. And they suck.
Elmore Leonard said Higgins taught him how to write, and he said it after 20 years of solid hits and plenty of fame. Higgins spent those same 20 years rejected until THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE was published circa 1970. EDDIE COYLE is a small-time loser criminal, Higgins' unpublished efforts are about social elites fulla angst over ordinary life issues no one wants to read about. It didn't work the first time yet Higgins tried it again at the end of his life and it didn't work again.
What it was, was Higgins admired John O'Hara, and O'Hara knew social elites and knew where their sleaze was hidden. His debutantes are ever bit the whores their servants were, and O'Hara exposed it as he exposed the men. Higgins had no idea rich girls sucked cocks and had abortions. He knew bar maids and gun molls did. O'Hara had the rich girls attend cotillions with green 18 year old boys then slip away to fuck a married cop on the beach. Later the girls went to Florida with their parents for abortions at clinics close to their beach resorts while mom and dad sampled the local flora and fauna, also close at hand. O'Hara was the son of an MD who served rich people.
Higgins' best writing is entirely long monologues. Ask a character the time and you learn how to make a watch. Higgins knew how to make it work. But in the stories its equally long narrative of the navel gazing kind. It doesn't work because there's no feelings in it. It could be a lecture about sugar beet agriculture. His low-life criminals wanna kick guys in the nuts or they yell at black hookers who demand tips.
