Pulp Fiction discussion

Charles Salzberg was born in NYC in 1946. A stint in the mailroom at New York magazine launched helped launch his career as a freelance writer. Salzberg has written a crime fiction series featuring Detective Henry Swann, and several nonfiction books about sports. He also works as a writing teacher, and has helped found the New York Writers Workshop.



Canary in the Coal Mine is his most recent book, published in April of 2022.

Looking forward to it, but won't get to it in over a week.

My copy arrived today, but I just finished a crime/thriller, so I'll need a palate cleanser before diving into this one.

I have just started on last month's book, because I lost too much time with a disappointing Barcelona sort of crime novel [[book:The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant|477441], so I'm not sure I can catch up with the canaries

Melki wrote: "My copy arrived today, but I just finished a crime/thriller, so I'll need a palate cleanser before diving into this one."

dressed in butler duds, carrying a silver tray, stopping before you, lifting the lid and presenting you with Palette Cleanser

Sorry, couldn't help myself...

I stumbled across this group and I'm thrilled to learn you're reading Canary in the Coal Mine this month. Of course, it also makes me a little nervous, for understandable reasons.
I also notice the group seems to be based in Australia. I never thought I'd get there, but about ten years ago I was invited to be International Guest of Honor at the Crime and Justice Festival in Melbourne (I don't take that International part very seriously), and I loved spending nine days down there. In fact, I might be better well known down there than I am here in the U.S., because I was on a radio show and did a newspaper interview/profile. In any case, thanks for reading it, if you do, and I'm open to any questions after.
Best,
Charles Salzberg

Charles wrote: "I stumbled across this group and I'm thrilled to learn you're reading Canary in the Coal Mine this month. Of course, it also makes me a little nervous, for understandable reasons.
I also notice the..."

Thank you so much for joining us, Charles. It'll be great to have your input.

Our own brush with greatness!

My wife is the best. She told me to leave the yardwork for tomorrow and let today be a lazy day. So I sat on the patio, enjoyed the warm breeze under the umbrella and in between a couple of unscheduled naps, read almost half this book. The modern-day hard boiled vibe is spot on. A bonus for me that as a native, it's set very well in New York City.

I finished last week, and finally got a chance to post a review. Very enjoyable, I thought, and a big improvement over last month's read.

Hope I NEVER meet a member of the Albanian mob. (Or a double-crossing diva, for that matter.)

I'll be cataloging this book for our library, and I expect it will see a lot of checkouts.

Wow ! Great choice, Melki, and fellow members ! Of all we've read in the last 3 years or so, imo only To Die in California surpassed this one.

Fortunato is obviously a Marlowe spinoff, and that's not a bad thing. He's self-described as cynical and paranoid, like PM. Salzburg writes a Marlowe type so well, it's like you're learning everything else about Marlowe that you always wanted to have confirmed, and it all fits perfectly within the character framework that Chandler set up.

This is the first novel that's taught me about the Albanian Mob in the U. S. According to the State Department, Albania is the mainstay of organized crime worldwide.

Salzburg paid homage to F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby's opening line, "The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world", with his opening line to Part 3, as Fortunato and Travis return to New York: "No matter how often I leave, approaching the city ... always sends chills up my spine. It encompasses the past, the present and the future with promises of fame and fortune ..."

Brian wrote: "Wow ! Great choice, Melki, and fellow members ! Of all we've read in the last 3 years or so, imo only To Die in California surpassed this one.

Fortunato is obviously a Marlowe spinoff, and that's ..."

Glad you liked it, Brian, though it was the members who chose the book. (I'm very happy this one won, however.)

I sure hope more people will take the time to read it.

Thanks so much for all the great feedback. I truly appreciate it. Since this thread, Canary was nominated for the Shaw’s Award, making it my third nomination, for my first, Swann’s Last Song, and then for Second Story Man. Lost all three of them!
Thanks again.
Best,
Charles

Charles wrote: "Thanks so much for all the great feedback. I truly appreciate it. Since this thread, Canary was nominated for the Shaw’s Award, making it my third nomination, for my first, Swann’s Last Song, and t..."

Hey, it's an honor to be nominated, so congratulations. I'm looking forward to reading more of your work. Keep on writing!