I've been catching up with my old buddy Joe Lansdale this week. As usual, Joe's got a full bucketload of projects on the go, including a trio of articles he's done over at The Texas Observer.Now, Joe Lansdale is a great suspense and horror writer. We all know that. You'll get a taste of his creative genesis in Dark Inspiration, a piece on his visit to an Edgar Allan Poe exhibit last year. From where I'm sitting, this is one of the very best pieces of nonfiction I've read from Joe (and I've read many). Fact is, it rekindles a wish that he'll put ass to chair one of these days and get to work on a full-blown memoir of his Texas boyhood. I've been saving a slot on my bookshelf for that one for a long, long time.
Of course, Joe's wit shows through even when writing about Poe. He fires up that component good and proper in a couple of other pieces at the Observer: Blood Sport and Walmart, I Can't Quit You. Check 'em out. This is a guy who knows his Mark Twain and Will Rogers as well as he knows his Poe, and he'll toss your sensibilities (and expectations) on a hot mesquite grill and cook 'em up more than a little bit, believe you me.
