Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Elmore’s novels are “the last place where people still smoke in bed”
Argus Weekend (South Africa)
Crime fiction star loves her lit with grit
Crime novelist Margie Orford was born in London but grew up in Namibia and South Africa and now lives in Cape Town. Her latest book in her popular Clare Hart series, Daddy’s Girl, was launched this week.
“For months, all I’ve been able to read were endless manuscript revisions of Daddy’s Girl. Reading anything else would induce an acute dose of writer’s envy, so my bedside table was empty. Now the book is done and there is a pile of books next to my bed.
“There are the Elmore Leonards I nicked from my brother. Road Dogs and Comfort to the Enemy. Leonard does good gunfight scenes, everyone knows that, but he also does pretty good sex scenes. It all just kind of happens with easy women who have orgasms quickly and who don’t make a fuss as they slip out of their kimonos. And then they smoke in bed. Hardboiled detective fiction is the last place where people still smoke in bed. It helps with that awkward post-coital literary moment.
