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I'll second that about The Long Firm. The chapter in "Jack the Hat's" voice is a tour de force. A definite good read though some clearly would not approve. Arnott, by the way, is (at least this is what he told me in an interview) that he was influenced by Brechtian ideas about the close connections between crime, show biz and, of course, capitalism. At one point he said: "Brecht constantly uses criminals and gangsters to look at capitalism. Thereıs people, particularly dewy-eyed anarchists and liberals, who think crime is some sort of oppositional activity. Sometimes it is - that robbing a bank is a big symbolic gesture against capitalism. But most crime isnıt robbing a bank. So often they miss the point, criminals donıt think of themselves as being criminals, they think theyıre going to work and they want something that pays well, thatıs got good hours." Cheers, Jill on 4/10/00 6:08 AM, George Simmers at [log in to unmask] wrote: >> The Krays were an evil pair of little scumbags not because of the >> murders -- topping someone like Jack McVitie comes with the territory -- >> but the way they ran the Conservative politician (later Lord) Boothby by >> feeding him adolescent amateur boxers who couldn't say no unless they >> wanted to be kneecapped was just a little (for all of me) beyond it. > > Have you read Jake Arnott's novel "The Long Firm" - featuring the Krays as > incidental characters, Jack the Hat as a major one, and a Boothby-type Lord. > > Best thriller I've read in ages. > > George > ______________________________________________ > George Simmers > Snakeskin Poetry Webzine is at > http://www.snakeskin.org.uk > > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%