Pulp Poem of the Week

I sat up at the counter and

pretended to look the menu over

but I was watching Stella.

I was never so glad

to see anybody in my life.

There was something about her

that got me. She wasn't

all over you. She had

that cool aloofness--

luscious figure, soft skin.

I watched her fill

two bowls of cereal.

Marty Holland

Fallen Angel

1945

Book Review: Marty Holland, Blonde Baggage [a.k.a. Fallen Angel] (1945)

The set-up is classic noir: Anti-hero wanders into small California town, hooks up with femme fatale, plots to swindle local old maid (who, of course, is not actually that old) out of her recently inherited $10,000. From there the plot drifts a bit toward whodunit territory, and the resolution is too dues ex machina not to be disappointing. On the whole, your time will be better spent watching the Otto Preminger film of this novel (bearing the novel's original title, Fallen Angel), which is much more tightly plotted and much more satisfying. Grade: C