Mystery Authors?

David,

Have Rex Stout or Ellery Queen ever been considered for LOA volumes in your ever-expanding mystery collection?

>1 jhicks62:

Sorry to be so long in responding: busy week here at the LOA.

To my knowledge, we've never received a proposal for either author. I believe they've been discussed only in the context of a possible anthology of mystery/detective/whodunit novels (similar to the crime noir and science fiction anthologies we've published).

--David

Thank you, sir.

Their inclusion in anthologies would be great, too!

I think the chronically underestimated Rex Stout could be worthy of an individual attention, beyond anthologies.

I've not read any Rex Stout yet, though I have two sitting on my book shelf right now waited to be read.

A few other mystery authors I'd at least be interested in thinking about for the LOA:

Chester Himes primarily for his Harlem detective novels. They could probably be seen as pretty controversial, particularly the final novel, but a great, thought provoking series that didn't get the attention it deserved in the United States.

K.C. Constantine - This one is a little off the wall, I guess. I would be surprised if he has ever been mentioned by anyone associated with the LOA, although I am often surprised me with their forthcoming announcements, so who knows. Constantine wrote 15 or 16 novels about a fictional rust belt town called Rocksburg. These books were unusual, but formed a wonderful realization of a fictional American town in decline. These novels are probably out of print, I would imagine, and at risk of being forgotten or never noticed by many. I would love to see them included.

Erle Stanley Gardner - who is famous for his Perry Mason novels, but also wrote another awfully fun series known as "Cool and Lam". Perry Mason will probably always be in print, but "Cool and Lam" is not, with the exception of a many two or three being published by Hard Case Crime. I'd love to see the LOA rescue a selection of these novels from obscurity.

James Ellroy, Walter Moseley, James Sallis: All three novelists I'd purchase if included in the LOA series. Ellroy was written some incredible stuff, but also probably comes with some baggage. All three might be a little too contemporary as well. James Sallis ought to be more well known than he is.

Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford: Both have one novel included in the LOA's crime novels collection, but both also have a number of other potentially worthy novels.

I think you could make an argument that all these authors could at least fill out one LOA volume.

>5 Dr_Flanders:

Given the perennial interest in Perry Mason, I wonder if a selection of novels would be most aligned with the LOA mission, assuming there wouldn't be a multi-volume edition.

Constantine I've not heard of, the Rocksburg novels certainly sound like an interesting series.

I also like Ellroy, Moseley, Thompson. At least Ellroy is still alive, not certain about Moseley or Thompson, and while I know there are exceptions it seems for the most part LOA waits for posthumous consideration of an author's ouvre before publishing.

>6 elenchus:

Yeah, you have a point about the living authors. Isn't it only Le Guin and Roth who are living and in the LOA series? It seems like they started working with Elmore Leonard before his death, I think I remember seeing an interview somewhere about the plan for his first LOA volume, but I might be misremembering that.

Anyway, Constantine is alive but hasn't published anything for a number of years.
Ellroy, Sallis and Moseley are all still alive and active, Moseley is extremely so. Sallis might be the best writer out of all of them.

Thompson and Willeford have both been dead for some time.

Perry Mason novels had been out of print in the U.S. until the American Bar Association's publishing imprint, Ankerwycke, began gradually rereleasing some of the first of the series a couple of years ago. Gardner wrote over 80 Mason novels, so adopting the whole series by LOA would be impractical, but a volume of the best of the best in a volume or two might be doable, assuming that Gardner's works come up to par. That is an emotional recommendation, not an intellectual one, based on my having read and loved many of the novels back when Gardner was still writing.

I recall that Gardner also wrote under a pseudonym, A. A. Fair. Also, there was a non-Mason series (not sure which author's name was used) in which the protagonist was a district attorney. I never read any of them, but I recall seeing them often in the old spinners that were used to display paperbacks in stores back them, so they must have been popular.

Perhaps a selection from Gardner's total oeuvre would be the way to go.

>8 Podras.:

I have a few of the Ankerwycke books. I've read the first 3 or 4 Mason novels. They were enjoyable but they didn't blow my socks off or anything...

but the novels he wrote under A.A. Fair, which are the "Cool and Lam" novels... I have really enjoyed the three of those I have read. Most are long out of print, and there were 29 or 30 of those in addition to the 80 Mason novels. So I think you are right that if the LOA did anything by Gardner, it would have to be a sample of the best or something.

And the only reason I really even mentioned him at all is because I really wish someone would rescue "Cool and Lam" from obscurity.

In addition to Roth and Le Guin, Welty, Ashbery, and Bellow were all included in LOA while they were still living. Merwin, who was included a few years ago, is still living.