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American writing is so broad and deep that it is easy to find new works in unexpected places. This is particularly so in noir and other forms of pulp fiction. In the early 1950s, Gold Medal Books published a series of 25-cent paperbacks some of which are outstanding literary works. Among these is "Black Wings has my Angel", a rare work by Elliott Chaze (1915 -- 1990), first published in 1953 and recently reissued in the New York Review of Books Classics series. The work deserves to be preserved and read.
This is a story told in the first person by Tim Sunblade, an escaped convict from the notorious Parchman Prison in Mississippi. The book focuses on Tim's relationship with Virginia, a prostitute whom he hires for $10.00 and who becomes his lover and companion in the course of the novel. In Tim's beat-up Packard, the couple travel cross-country from Louisiana to Denver, New Orleans, and Mississippi. The book offers a depiction of low life on the run in these places and in life on the road. The road scenes are a tawdry version of Kerouac's later novel, "On The Road".
Tim and Virginia have their eye on the money and plan a heist which will make them rich. The two engage in intense lovemaking but both Tim and Virginia struggle to be out primarily for themselves. In the course of the book, Tim frequently plans to abandon or kill Virginia while she more than returns the complement. The two are uneasy together, joined by the crime and by feeling.
The novel develops the characters well and has a noir atmosphere in its depiction of places. It is written in a tough hard-boiled style which manages to convey feeling and poetry. The book is tautly written and held my attention and interest throughout.
The author, Elliott Chaze, spent most of his life as a journalist in Mississippi. He wrote nine novels as well as many short stories, but "Black Wings has my Angel" appears to be his one work that will survive.
The New York Review of Books is to be commended for making this work accessible. The book will appeal mostly to lovers of noir. But, as does the best of noir, "Black Wings has my Angel" transcends its genre.
Robin Friedman
MarkHP
May 3, 2007
Deserves it's Rep
I picked this book up after finding it atop a noir reading list. It certainly deserves the reputation. Original Gold Medal copies are selling for $150-$200 on Ebay which is way to expensive for my taste. This reprint has several gaping typos but the story is so involving I was able to look right past them in my quest for the end. About three-quarters of the way through, the book takes on almost Poe-ish air. All in all, this is a book you don't read, but devour.
