Remember the Broadway play, "Detective Story," by Sidney Kingsley? It was a police procedural, covering a day in the life, circa late forties, early fifties. The 1951 film version was unforgettable, and featured a scene stealing turn by Lee Grant, as the Shoplifter!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, much more goes on in Gann's novel, which is like Kingsley's vehicle, updated to 1963. Which means there are lots of references to homosexuals no one would dare use today. And the precinct in question here is San Francisco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here, everyone gets a scene stealing moment. Like a teen-aged girl named Harriet, crying out to be played by a Bonita Granville type, who makes rape allegations because she does not like living with her aunt and uncle. Cute, huh? Then, there is Lawrence Potter--a florist; uh-huh!!!!!!!!!--who is homosexual and cannot control his impulses. Good luck with that in this era, Larry; hope you hung on till the Harvey Milk era. And then there is John Barbee, stifled by demands from a wife worthy of Lady Macbeth, who attempts suicide. I think he succeeds, and while that saddens me, the thought that he escaped the wife makes me feel better. I would have felt better if she had jumped off the Golden Gage Bridge.
The authority figures in this book are all representative types--blue collar, Irish, either extremely noble or extremely corrupt. This is the first Gann book I have read. I know he is known for "The High And The Mighty," which was in my house growing up in New Jersey, though I never read it. "Of Good And Evil" makes me think it was written on the quick; Gann owed his publisher some kind of manuscript, so he cranked this out pretty fast, without fleshing out the story to the level of some of his ore successful books.
It is interesting reading it because of its time. But its literary worth is left behind in that time. Good for historical perspective, but that is about it, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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