Weegee and winter reading
Rubber stamp used by Weegee (born Arthur Felig) to sign his photograhs.
There’s an exhibit of Weegee photographs up at the International Center for Photography through the first week of March. My son went to see it and was blown away. You may think you don’t know who Weegee is, but if you have a mental image of gritty, black and white NYC in the ’30s and ’40s, you’re probably remembering a Weegee photo. Here’s the link to the wiki entry on him.
Okay, so what does this have to do with winter reading? Well, the genre of “escapist” literature I favor is of the gumshoe, Sam Spade or police detective variety…and, in my mind’s eye, I see Weegee images when I read Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. Winter is a great time for this sort of reading. Who’s your favorite detective or mystery writer? Not into this stuff–okay, tell me what you like to relax with: fantasy? scifi? epic historical novels?
Tags: detective stories, genre literature, weegee
I have been hooked by the “Nameless Detective” series by author Bill Pronzini. A long series. A like the notion of an “old fashioned” and philosophical private eye in today’s world. Good stuff!