Anybody have any recommendations for books that take place in the American Midwest? I'm looking for maybe crime novels that take place during the 80's/90's. Stuff like truck stops at night, degradation of Midwest infrastructure, flawed religious characters, cheap wooden panel smoke-filled cowboy bars...
Something like true detective s1, Fargo (movie), no country for old men, 2666.
Not even memeing, Franzen's Twenty Seventh City is a literary crime-ish novel set in St Louis. It's an earlier work of his so a little more wonky but it fits the bill.
Zachary Powell
Fuck Franzen
Cameron Brown
Thank you for the rec.
I don't browse lit often. Why is he a touchy character on here?
David Fisher
i guess because he's the anointed boy-king of cerebral Literature with a capital L in America, and also because after Veeky Forums's avatar DFW offed himself, Franzen took it upon himself to write some sort of bullshit eulogy for his friend that made everyone hate him
also because he writes big dumb books that take themselves super duper seriously but are still trash. don't waste your time on 'Freedom' it sucks and i'm still pissed i was memed into reading it
How is 2666? Is it a page-turner? (what I look for in my crime novels)
Chase Perez
Not a book, but Blood Simple by the Coen Bros is literally what you are looking for. I want some lit recs too.
Aaron Roberts
If you liked 2666 read Bolaños collected short stories in the return or last evenings on Earth, though the stories take place mostly in Mexico City and Barcelona.
Jaxon Evans
Has Indiana ever came up or played a significant role in anything?
Ayden Collins
The Lost Scrapbook by Evan Dara
Logan Sullivan
2666 can only be called a crime novel in such that crimes are involved. It is a literary novel through and through but Bolaño can tell a tale as well. Unfortunately he died before he could finish the book, making the latter half of the story a bit of a slog. Start with his short stories, last evenings on earth for example is a tale of a son and fathers vacation in acapulco as it slowly dissolves into what could possibly be their last evening on Earth.
Christopher Lopez
Part of WR Burnett's High Sierra is set in Indiana, where the bank robber Roy Earle grew up. But not much of the book takes place there, as I recall.
It's a very good, B+ crime novel. Most of Burnett's books are good. Little Caesar may be his most famous. Asphalt Jungle is probably his best. (Asphalt Jungle is a crime novel set in the midwest, btw; it has a pretty cool vibe - dark and gritty and seedy - which the movie captures well; but both the book and the movie are of their time, and speak to a different culture and sensibility than TD or Fargo or NCOM.)
The movie High Sierra is better than the book -- not by a lot. And the book Asphalt Jungle may be just a little bit better than the movie... not sure about that judgment though.
John Huston was one of the few filmmakers to turn good books into good movies, with Maltese Falcon, African Queen, and Asphalt Jungle.
/sperg
Christopher Gutierrez
Thanks, I'm not sure if that's my cup of meat, but I'll check him out if my library has or can get a copy.
Bentley Brooks
Gaskun, someone was saying in some thread you killed yourself. Any idea why?
John Kelly
Thanks. Even in terms of the Midwest Indiana doesn't seem to get much in terms of appreciation.
Henry Campbell
In Cold Blood and the film "Stroszek"
Jace Sullivan
bump
Brayden Long
Do yourself a favor and read Jim Harrison. Start with Wolf, his first novel, or check out Legends of the Fall, a collection of 3 novellas, all fantastic for different reasons
Julian Powell
Santa Olivia by Carey I'm reading Book of Tongues by Gemma Files, but that's just straight up western.
Dylan Ortiz
A lot of William Gass' work is set in the Midwest. In the Heart of the Heart of the Country has some excellent stories, especially the first one in the collection, The Pederson Kid is easily my favorite short story/novella. It captures the Midwest perfectly. For something another longer try Omensetter's Luck.
Aiden Walker
Freedom is the bomb, man dunno why ppl here hate it. Probably because social realism in general is rarely spoken of here--it's in the tradition of Austen, james, and wharton
Kevin Richardson
>cup of meat
Juan Lewis
You don't happen to have a PDF copy of Wolf do you?