The Not a Book Club Club discussion
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Dangerous Women
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DW: I Know How to Pick 'Em By Lawrence Block
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I'm a big fan of Lawrence Block (read a lot of the Scudder and Bernie mysteries) and was very interested in his invitation to this anthology. His story has very much a noir setting, like a lot of books he's written, and I would suggest that the 'dangerous woman' of the story is Gary's mother for what was done to him in the past.
Ummmm gross story. Just. No.
The writing was good, I can see why people like Lawrence Block...but the story was just icky. I want to wash it from my brain.
Married woman hooks up with a man in the bar. Psychological setup, the incestuous mother being the dangerous woman. I was glad that it was that short because I didn't get into the characters and to be honest, I'm glad that I didn't.
1 star for it, because I didn't like it at all.
I'll add my voice to the I-could-have-done-without-this-story crowd. It was well written, if a little wander-y, but the subject matter... yeah, wish I had just passed over it.
I liked it... sure it was creepy and icky and gross. But I enjoyed that it went in a direction I did not expect and that the 'dangerous woman' in the story was not who I expected it to be. Not one of my favorites but one of the better ones for me.
I didn't like this one at all but the end did surprise me. I've never read his books. Was this story a good representation of his work?
As a fan of Block's work I'd say this is a little departure from most of the books that I've read. His Keller (stamp collecting hitman) and Bernie (burglar who owns a used book store) series are quite lighthearted in my opinion. His Matthew Scudder (alcoholic detective) series is a little darker. Also, for those who thought the story was 'icky', 'gross' and 'creepy', it wasn't that bad considering a lot of the crime fiction out there right now. About 90% of Scandinavian fiction have antagonists that are at least this creepy & weird. I'm not judging your opinions but just putting it into the perspective of current crime novels.
I did not like this one. I liked the writing style. I just wasn't too crazed about what is considered a "dangerous women". I feel this is a similar depiction as "Wrestling Jesus". Are these women truly dangerous, or are these men sociopaths? Who knows because we only see the world through mens eyes. (view spoiler)
I think the Dangerous Woman here was the mother. We only have the narrator to go by that the woman he picks up at the bar was going to have him kill her husband. And by the end we know not to trust him.
I agree, I think it was the mother as well.
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