Barking at Butterflies by
Evan Hunter
hbk out November 03
Published by Allison Busby
at £17.99
This collection of short stories by the American grand-master of crime is a follow-up
to last year's successful compilation, 'Running From Legs and other stories'. Only a
couple of the eleven stories in the book were originally published under the
pseudonym by which Hunter - distinguished author of 'The Blackboard Jungle' - is
best known: these are the title story and 'The Intruder', which first appeared almost
30 years apart. Three of the stories had never been published in the USA before this
book came out there. In a wry afterword, Hunter notes that no American editor
thought that 'Short Short Story' or 'Motel' 'were good enough to publish in any
magazine.' They are, admittedly, not classics, but they are not that bad either. Hunter
honestly (and rather reassuringly for the rest of us) points out that even after a writer
has made the big time, he does not experience success all the way. But, as he says, his
publishing life 'hasn't been entirely one of rejection, abandonment and loss' and
several of the Hunter tales are enjoyable; one of them even became the penultimate
chapter of 'The Blackboard Jungle'. The title story particularly appealed to me and,
all in all, this book provides a useful reminder that there is much more to this author
than the McBain chronicles of the 87th Precinct.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
Barking at Butterflies by
Evan Hunter
