hughes in a lonely place

Dorothy Hughes — Alcoholism in Detective Fiction — Show Notes for Ep 17 Pt 1

Greetings!
In Episode 17 Part 1 we introduce Dorothy Hughes’ noir classic In A Lonely Place, discuss alcoholism in detective fiction for Subject Unknown, and dig up what we can about who Dorothy Hughes was and what made her tick.
In A Lonely Place: The NYRB called Hughes writing “controlled elegance.”
We couldn’t agree more. The sentences are sharp and lyrical. The characters are well-developed, and the atmosphere is the best we’ve read since David Goodis’s Shoot the Piano Player. Listen to our initial thoughts on In A Lonely Place. We’ll return to it in greater detail in Part 2.
Subject Unknown: We read Booze and the Private Eye by Rita Elizabeth Rippetoe (McFarland Publishing; 1st Edition, 2004) and discuss alcoholism in detective fiction in the context of Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, and Lawrence Block.
Biography: A book length biography of Dorothy Hughes has not yet been written. We think one is long past due.
Future Episodes:
Episode 18 Horace McCoy They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Episode 19 Ernest Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not
Episode 20 Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men
Episodes 21-25: International Literary Roadtrip

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