Bicky

“When a book, any sort of book, reaches a certain intensity of artistic performance, it becomes literature. That intensity may be a matter of style, situation, character, emotional tone, or idea, or half a dozen other things. It may also be a perfection of control over the movement of a story similar to the control a great pitcher has over the ball. That is to me what you have more than anything else and more than anyone else. . . .
The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some extraordi-nary qualities. Perry Mason is the perfect detective because he has the intellectual approach of the juridical mind and at the same time the restless quality of the adventurer who won’t stay put. I think he is just about perfect. So let’s not have any more of that phooey about
“as literature my stuff still stinks.” Who says so—William Dean Howells?

Raymond Chandler to Erle Stanley Gardner, 1946”
― Richard B. Schwartz, Nice and Noir: Contemporary American Crime Fiction

“The Lord of the Rings is a million times more interesting than mere literature, which is why mere literary critics cannot get to grips with it.”
― Robert McNeil

“They were wise in their own skills, but most of them seemed to think that that made them wise in everything, which did not appear to be the case.”
― Robert Silverberg, Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another

“A born detective never needs to be told that everybody lies – he or she has always known it.”
― Peter Grainger, Time and Tide