A review by jakewritesbooks
Bordersnakes by James Crumley
4.0
James Crumley made his bones with his novel The Last Good Kiss. In between the publication of that and the publication of this, he wrote one Milo and one Shugrue book respectively over the course of 18 years. Aside from a short story collection, that’s it.
I don’t know Crumley’s deal; I’ve only read a couple of interviews he’s done but my guess is he caught lightening in a bottle with TLGK and knew he couldn’t write it again, though he wanted to. He must’ve gotten to a point where he just said Screw It because this is basically The Last Good Kiss only if it involved his two private eye protagonists.
I’ve read the other two books in the Milo and Shugrue series respectively and despite liking the books, I’m not a fan of either character. Both function best as tour guides through the world Crumley creates rather than the hardened, tough talking, hard drinking, women screwing vets he wants us to empathize with. That’s what makes The Last Good Kiss such an effective book; it’s basically a road trip novel with a mystery tacked on.
And that’s firmly in Crumley’s wheelhouse. This one has another ungainly plot that’s difficult to follow but the gist of it is: our two heroes both have problems to deal with so they decide to team up and fight them together, only to find their problems may or may not be related. As he did with Dancing Bear, which is my personal favorite Crumley novel, he has meta moments where the protagonists wonder out loud why they’re doing what they’re doing and who they’re supposed to be chasing.
So while I normally don’t care for books like this, Crumley is Crumley and his road trips are so much fun. Southwest America comes alive through starry nights, long drives, dive bars, and quirky characters. And his dialogue and inner rumination are top notch as always. I didn’t really care how the book ended, I just enjoyed the trip getting there. Crumley has a way of making things feel vivid and lived in. It’s a great skill to have and it makes up for his inability to hold a plot.
I don’t really need more of these two men in my life and I’m kind of glad they only have one book each left but I’m also sad that there won’t be many more of these road trips.
I don’t know Crumley’s deal; I’ve only read a couple of interviews he’s done but my guess is he caught lightening in a bottle with TLGK and knew he couldn’t write it again, though he wanted to. He must’ve gotten to a point where he just said Screw It because this is basically The Last Good Kiss only if it involved his two private eye protagonists.
I’ve read the other two books in the Milo and Shugrue series respectively and despite liking the books, I’m not a fan of either character. Both function best as tour guides through the world Crumley creates rather than the hardened, tough talking, hard drinking, women screwing vets he wants us to empathize with. That’s what makes The Last Good Kiss such an effective book; it’s basically a road trip novel with a mystery tacked on.
And that’s firmly in Crumley’s wheelhouse. This one has another ungainly plot that’s difficult to follow but the gist of it is: our two heroes both have problems to deal with so they decide to team up and fight them together, only to find their problems may or may not be related. As he did with Dancing Bear, which is my personal favorite Crumley novel, he has meta moments where the protagonists wonder out loud why they’re doing what they’re doing and who they’re supposed to be chasing.
So while I normally don’t care for books like this, Crumley is Crumley and his road trips are so much fun. Southwest America comes alive through starry nights, long drives, dive bars, and quirky characters. And his dialogue and inner rumination are top notch as always. I didn’t really care how the book ended, I just enjoyed the trip getting there. Crumley has a way of making things feel vivid and lived in. It’s a great skill to have and it makes up for his inability to hold a plot.
I don’t really need more of these two men in my life and I’m kind of glad they only have one book each left but I’m also sad that there won’t be many more of these road trips.