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Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Nihilsm, Cynicism, Sarcasm, Orgasm!


So shouts one of many outraged women in 'Deconstructing Harry' at Woody Allen's character. "In France, I could run on that slogan and win," he replies.... Mickey Spillane, who died yesterday, at 88, became the 1950s top writer of detective stories with a similar attitude. Below are some delicious quotes from an interview with Spillane. Btw, the movie version of 'Kiss Me Deadly" is awesome, and opens with Cloris Leachman's first movie appearance, running down a road wearing only a trenchcoat and a crazed facial expression...

While acknowledging that his books were the "chewing gum of American literature," Spillane basked in his success.

"I'm the most translated writer in the world, behind Lenin, Tolstoy, Gorky and Jules Verne — and they're all dead," he'd say.

Spillane took delight in recalling the time, during the early years of paperbacks, when "some New York literary guy" approached him at a dinner party and said, "I think it's disgraceful that of the 10 best-selling books of all time, seven were written by you."

To which, the Washington Post later reported, Spillane replied: "You're lucky I've only written seven books."

A two-fingered typist who pounded out his books on a manual Smith Corona, Spillane always said he was a "writer," not an "author."

"What's the distinction? A writer makes money," he said.


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