tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post1531488333253285173..comments2024-03-25T11:29:25.356-04:00Comments on Existential Ennui: Westlake on Rabe: Stop This Man! & Benny Muscles In by Peter Rabe (Gold Medal, 1955/58)Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)http://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-82135912331183218342013-03-16T07:44:40.660-04:002013-03-16T07:44:40.660-04:00"Stop this Man!" is the first and thus f..."Stop this Man!" is the first and thus far only Rabe I've read--I keep looking for him every time I'm in a bookstore that might conceivably have his stuff, and this was the one I found (the Hard Case Crime reprint).<br /><br />For an early work, it's very very impressive--but yeah, a bit too obvious. If Rabe gets a lot better after this, I have got to get me some more. But it'll have to be online, because sadly, New York City is not a book collector's paradise these days. All but one of the few booksellers that specialized in this type of literature have gone the way of all things, and while we've still got the Strand and a handful of other purveyors of pre-owned publications (who no longer have to contend so much with the big chain stores, which shutting down one by one because of Amazon), it'll never be what it once was. To quote Jimmy McMillan (don't ask), The Rent is too damn high.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.com