So Hard Case Crime isn't doing that well. I must admit I'm surprised, considering it is very unusual for a book shop -- in this case Books-A-Million -- to carry so many of a nonselling item.

 

Oh, I read the King Hard Case Crime book and David Dodge's The Last Match which were quite enjoyable.

 

I think we're overlooking one aspect other than the women factor. And that is the book shops of today. What I mean is the fact book shops these days are far from what they were in my youth (the 70's), in that they just don't carry stock the way they used to. Back then, as a teen, I could find complete series on the shelf, such as Tarzan, Gor, Conan, The Executioner and on and on, waiting to be bought. Today it's a rare thing to find even a complete trilogy on the shelf, and in that case you find book 3 or maybe book two. And considering most Fantasy and Science Fiction these days comes in trilogy or series... Plus, the fact with some book shops, as with my local one, they don't carry new releases such as the recent Conan trilogy on the shelf, leaving a possible buyer having to know about it ahead of time.

 

The Janet Evanovich mass market mystery that came out last June sells twice as much, on a daily basis, as the Hard Case Crime book that hit the stands last month.

 

Let me reveal myself here.

I LOVE HARD CASE CRIME BOOKS WITH ALL MY MANGY HEART.  

 

Look at these covers....

 

 

Some are so beautiful they make me choke up.

 

The only one I've read that was less than Very Good was the forthcoming LUCKY AT CARDS.

A "best" one can't be selected, because they come at the hardboiled genre from so many directions.

 

For old-fashioned hardboiled pulp melodrama go for Wade Miller's BRANDED WOMAN

(mysterious criminal mastermind, dangerous female lead, outrageous jerk-the-rug out from under your feet conclusion)

 

For Hard Drinkin', Down and Out Macho Noir go for Day Keene's HOME IS THE SAILOR

(Hapless doomed he-man hero, ultra-duplicitous female, dumb cops, gallons of booze)

 

For Crisp, Terse, Hardhitting, Hemingwayesque Noir go for Richard Stark's (Donald Westlake) 361.

(Nice guy goes revenge-mad, brutal scenes of painful clarity)

 

For top notch tough-guy kicks the bad-guy's ass into next week thrills, try Max Allan Collins THE LAST QUARRY .

(Honest old school machismo with sleazy thugs, gorgeous dames and a narrator who's a "retired" hitman) 

 

I could go on.

Haven't found one yet that wasn't worth reading.

But it should be obvious by now that I love this kinda stuff.

By "value = weight", I take it you are referring to the phenomenon of as book prices have gone up page numbers have as well. That someone is less likely to be a $6.99 paper back that's 195 pages than one over 300 pages. I have always found this an interesting occurance and have found it sad to read a 300 plus page book that would've been a good 195 page book if you cut out the padding, so to speak. Quite like a number of two hour plus movies I've seen. Anyway, I've often wondered why both books cost the same.

I think that it is less men "prefer to have their media shown to them in a tangible way, like pictures in comics" as it is some men lack the imagination to visualize written word descriptions so they need comic books to visualize it for them, while others have just gotten lazy and don't want to put the mental effort to read a book when they can get it all in a 22 page comic book with pictures. I have met a number of the former and the latter.

 

I recall Jason Sizemore recently saying that he sent an issue of Apex Digest, on request, to a prisoner, but it was intercepted and returned as "material unsuitable".

 

Cycles come and go.   At some point, it's not impossible that reading could become "cool" again.   Certainly in the UK, Harry Potter revitalised books sales to children in general, and those who start reading early are more likely to stay with it.

 

 

 

On the more general point of this thread - business is business, and tends to find ways of making money.   If there were an untapped market out there for "manly" fiction, then somebody should have hit it by now.   However, it is possible that it is there and no-one's noticed; in which case, if you really believe the market is out there, set up a POD press and go for it.

 

For my part, I think it's a touch harsh to blame the changing tastes of the readership simply on women.   In fact, fantasy as a genre has mushroomed significantly precisely because of women readers.     

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"The Box Of Beautiful Things" - IGMS#3

"The Man Who Was Never Afraid" - Abyss and Apex #19