How Blissfully Unpretentious

Crime and Mystery writer Mickey Spillane died on Monday. I need to get around to readings some of his books, if only because I like his style:

Spillane had no pretensions about his writing, going about it with the philosophy that "If the public likes you, you're good."

He was known for blunt writing and blunt talk and had no trouble admitting that money was a prime motivator for his writing.

In 1995, when he was named a grandmaster of his craft by the Mystery Writers of America, he recalled the days when he didn't write mysteries.

"I used to write true confessions stories like 'I was a pregnant teen-ager' and 'My boyfriend said we stopped in time,"' he said. "I write when I feel the urgent need for money."

Spillane was immune to critics who thought his style was uncivil, and once said, "Those big-shot writers could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar."

I like pulp and popular fiction. I respect a well spun yarn. On the other hand a lot of critical fiction is so dripping with pathos that it's almost unreadable. Which is why we have critics to tell us how good it is instead of actually wanting to find out for ourselves.