I was wondering if anyone is aware of any really good, serious contemporary fiction set in Detroit? It would seem like this social upheaval would surely give rise to some great novels. Thanks.
I was wondering if anyone is aware of any really good, serious contemporary fiction set in Detroit? It would seem like this social upheaval would surely give rise to some great novels. Thanks.
Middlesex was pretty excellent.
I found it riveting but then Eugenides was two years ahead of me at ULS and I knew some of the people he based his characters on.
What about Elmore Leonard novels?
Last edited by p69rrh51; February-05-13 at 08:18 PM.
If you want to talk about "street fiction" Donald Goines, a Detroit native, wrote numerous books set in Detroit that are considered classic examples of the genre. Dopefiend was the one that I read.
Black Gangster was another Donald Goines classic. The film adaptation was supposed to be developed by Jay-Z some years ago but never panned out.
100% agree. Loved it - favourite fiction book set in Detroit.
Another book recommendation would be "Detroit City is the Place to Be" by Mark Binelli. Not fiction but it flows like a novel and tries to thoroughly investigate the city - good read.
So what is this "street fiction" and where can one pick some up?
This is an interesting topic. If you expanded your scope to "any novel based in Detroit", we could list a lot of detective novels.
Check out the work by Michael Zadoorian.
All of the William X. Keinsle [[Spelling of the last name might be wrong) murder mysteries place in Detroit. William X. Keinsle was an ex Catholic priest. ALL of his books surround Detroit [[a LOT) and have a Catholic spin on them. One of them [[The Rosary Murders) was made into a movie with Donald Sutherland as the main character, and was filmed in Detroit. Check them out.
There was also another book by Elmore Leonard called Freaky Deaky. Not such a great book, but the setting too was Detroit.
Hope this helps you.
Bill Kienzle was one of the priests at St.David in the 1950's. He ended leaving the priesthood in the 1970's.
All of the William X. Keinsle [[Spelling of the last name might be wrong) murder mysteries place in Detroit. William X. Keinsle was an ex Catholic priest. ALL of his books surround Detroit [[a LOT) and have a Catholic spin on them. One of them [[The Rosary Murders) was made into a movie with Donald Sutherland as the main character, and was filmed in Detroit. Check them out.
There was also another book by Elmore Leonard called Freaky Deaky. Not such a great book, but the setting too was Detroit.
Hope this helps you.
Last edited by IrishSpartan; February-25-13 at 12:30 AM.
Has anyone read The Turner House by Angela Flournoy? It has been generating quite a buzz; it made the National Book Award finals and the NY Times notable book of the year. The Vancouver Public Library has 7 copes, all in use; I'm 20th in line to borrow it.
So far, I've only read Freaky Deaky by Leonard. I thought it was o-kay. Not as climatic as one would hope about disgruntled old Weathermen [[I think the ending to the Pink Panther film Shot in the Dark had a more climatic and similar ending if I remember correctly). Yet, Leonard doesn't have to be loud and climatic.
If I remember the story correctly, there is a scene with Iggy Pop performing at St. Andrews Hall where I used to work. What little of the film I've seen just doesn't match up to what I envisioned it to be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwCL9wdiPycI like Glover and all, but he isn't who I would've cast for the role.
There's lots in the hard boiled/detective/murder mystery genre. Any of Loren D. Estleman books come to mind. Or pulp/street novels, as others have mentioned.
Other than that there seems to be very little. One newer title is Say Nice Things About Detroit, which I read a few months ago. It was OK.
"Dead of Night" by Barbara Nadel. You can get it on Amazon. She is from England...great murder mystery writer. Met her while she was here doing research for the book.
read a book called "wheels" once...
it had an automotive story, based in detroit....
By Arthur Hailey!
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124924.Wheels
"The Betsy" by Harold Robbins....Novel about the Auto Industry...
I just read "The Purples." It was pretty darn good. Sort of a Billy Bathgate story, based on the Purple Gang.
Check out the Charlie Sloan mysteries by William Coughlin. I thoroughly enjoyed them all.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/list...iam_J_Coughlin
Similarly....The Betsy by Harold Robbins
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56776.The_Betsy
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