The Name is Archer

Ross Macdonald is best known as author of the Lew Archer series of hardboiled detective novels. But he also wrote a few Lew Archer short stories. The Name is Archer consists of 7 of these stories. The writing in all 7 stories is first rate. Each of the narratives flows along smoothly. Macdonald consistently uses a very descriptive brand of prose that quite effectively brings the reader vivid images of what is happening as Lew Archer tackles the very worst of what humanity chooses to dish out. Ever the cynic, Archer delivers some very funny wisecracks, a number of which are priceless. As for the plots of the individual stories.... well suffice it to say that some are better than others. One of the best is story #3, The Bearded Lady. In it, Macdonald covers many of the themes that can also be found in his novels. These include: jealousy, greed, betrayal, infidelity and the consequences of having an inadequate father figure. Any fan of hardboiled crime fiction will undoubtedly derive enjoyment from reading this book.

I enjoyed the recently compiled collection STRANGERS IN TOWN but this is the stronger of the two books. Lew Archer cuts through the landscape like a hot-rodder with the devil driving, and his sad journeys from one California town to another tie the book together as if it were some kind of Canterbury pilgrimage. Everywhere he looks for the truth, and he balances out with what is right. And everywhere he goes, Ross Macdonald finds beautiful ways to tell us what he sees and how he feels. He was a student of W H Auden's, and it shows up in some of the language and the metaphors. Here, for example, is the beginning of the convoluted "Wildgoose Chase." "The plane turned in towards the shoreline and began to lose altitude. Mountains detached themselves from the blue distance. Then there was a city between the sea and the mountains, a little city made of sugar cubes. The cubes increased in size. Cars crawled like colored beetles between the buildings, and matchstick figures hustled jerkily along the white morning pavements. A few minutes later I was one of them." It's not only the imaginative power of trying to describe a topos steadily increasing in size, but the purity and exactitude of the analogies, "white morning pavements," "colored beetles," etc. Macdonald's a poet and if, at the other end of his practice, he becomes sort of a Johnny One Note--always mourning his daughter--we forgive him anything because of the way he says and does it. PS, In "The Name Is Archer" there's an awful lot of crypto-gay men, aren't there? Painters, hairdressers, shadowy nightclub gunsels, always teasing Archer with hints of depravity and annoying him with their general uselessness. Had Macdonald some kind of gay problem I wonder? It's hard to miss, especially in the first half of this book. Maybe all of these men are just background to make bachelor Lew Archer appear more manly by contrast.

This is a collection of seven short stories by Ross Mac; all are good and several are better than good. Many of the themes present in his later novels are on display here; but here Archer himself is more of a Marlowe-type, wise-cracking PI, as opposed to the subtly more sensitive catalyst he would become. The differences are slight but are those seen in the shift in tone the genre undertook from the 40's when MacDonald began (as Kenneth Millar, then John Ross MacDonald) to his arguable prime in the 60's.I would recommend one of his novels (such as Far Side of the Dollar, my favorite) to someone wanting to try Ross Mac, but these stories are very fine examples of his writing, and are sure to entertain. (Of popular era novelists, I would say only William Campbell Gault is *better* in the short story form than in full-length novel form.)There are similarities between these stories, as there are between Ross Mac's novels, as there are between all novels in the genre, if one is to be honest. But the sameness doesn't detract, if you don't want it to. The thrills are not in the plot, but the technique, as it is with most true masters of form. For example, I don't often hear comments on his dialogue, perhaps because it's less romanticized than is much pulp slang, but its nonetheless strong. Find the Woman- A Hollywood publicity diva's missing daughter and the daughter's soldier husband figure in an intricate mystery with an interesting if unlikely payoff. Written well, the adultery/jealousy themes are there, and the diva's character portrait is most satisfyingly drawn.Gone Girl- Begins with a burst, then tells the tale of one night of murder in an isolated hotel, and the aftermath the next day, precipitated by a girl trying to escape a relationship with a racketeer.Bearded Lady- The longest, and my least favorite, although still not bad. Ross Mac's familiar themes of a wealthy family and an undercurrent of wrong are transported into the art world, then mixed with a swatch of theft and murder. The title refers to a painting of a woman, which someone defaced by painting a beard over it.Suicide- Archer delves into secrets between sisters, one of whom marries badly and is equally unwise with money. Maybe she is also a murderer. Somewhat typical perhaps, but well-turned and Chandler-esque.Guilt-Edged Blonde- A quite short, merely adequate story of hidden parentage. With its small page count this one never has time to take hold.Sinister Habit- Involved and involving story of jealousy and (of course) murder surrounding a schoolmarm and her eloping with a brutal beatnik. (Yeah, I know, but it's really very good.)Wild Goose Chase- Short, sad tale of a man accused of murder who will not reveal his alibi to protect the woman he was with. Will he get off? Should Archer let him? Are the accused's motives really so pure? If he didn't commit the murder, who did? Ross Mac packs a lot of twists in a brief few pages, but it never seems rushed on its way to a non-traditio