The Straight Man

by Kent Nelson

Book by Nelson, Kent

Genres: Fiction

135 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Still · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright- I had a lot of trouble listing the original cover of this -allegedly 1st edition of the Black Lizard release of this PBO.
Lots of problems. At some point in the past I marked this as read - which I actually had already read once a hundred years ago when the PBO originally came out.

I recently discovered that this novel is not by "Kent Nelson".
It's an alias.
Barry Gifford wrote this slender little anecdotal crime novel about a small time criminal down in Florida who acts as the middle man in dope deals -mostly pot- and has to pull a Dan Marlowe/Richard Stark "Parker" type heist to pay off the front men after being ripped off by a couple of assholes.

I found this to be a breezy little number that could have been written by Duane Swierczynski with his arm tied behind his back or Charlie Stella or Jason Starr.

I had a good time. It gets a bad rap from snobs but who gives a crap what they think.
They probably wear bermuda shorts and sandals. With white socks.

Recently on the Rara-Avis newsletter webby thing there's been some disagreement if this was actually written by Gifford. Supposedly it was written by a friend and Gifford took the rap.


I just don't know.

Recommended.

[Kirk Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked it a lot. Short, swift read. Real nice style.

[Charlie Eckhaus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much a dumb book in a thin, matter-of-fact slice of life style, involving unappealing cypher characters. I was reminded of Walter Matthau's flim The Gangster Story. There were a few moments of interest.

Have heard this was a pseudonymous effort of Barry Gifford and was the first Black Lizard book. Could believe it was used as a demo for the idea to start a tough, noirish book line.