Fragen noir an ...
... die Schriftstellerin Vicki Hendricks
Vorab
Name?
Vicki Hendricks
What are you doing besides writing?
Besides writing I teach composition and creative writing full-time at Broward College in south Florida. If you mean what I do for fun, I skydive, scuba dive, do adventure travel.
Film released in the year of your birth?
A Streetcar Named Desire was released as a film in the year I was born. Since Tennessee Williams is one of my favorite playwrights and the play is quite noir in tone, I’m happy to learn that.
What was your initiation in the noir-subject (film or book)?
I was initiated into noir without realizing it by becoming obsessed with the novels of James M. Cain. I had no plan to write noir and didn’t think about genre, but started taking creative writing classes and reading Cain at the same time. From there I just kept going in that direction. The Postman Always Rings Twice was the model for my thesis, which became my first novel, Miami Purity. Afterward I discovered that Camus used Postman as a model for The Stranger, so I felt in good company.
What books can we find in your bookshelf?
My books are all double-shelved with stacks on top of the double rows, so basically you can’t find anything on my bookshelves! I buy second copies all the time because I can’t find the book I’m looking for. Seriously though, you would find lots of noir, including Daniel Woodrell, Jason Starr, Megan Abbott, Sara Gran, Duane Swierczynski, Allan Guthrie, Joe R. Lansdale, many more. I have all of Charles Bukowski’s novels and those of Harry Crews. I could go on and on, of course. I’m not sure how many of these are published in Germany, but I hope they all are for your sake.
Which noir cliché do you like the most?
I’m not sure what a noir cliché would be. In my case the murderer is always the main character, in Cain’s style, but I probably wouldn’t call that a cliché. To me the narrator has to be the criminal for the book to be called noir, although I see novels being called noir when only the bad guy is dark. Maybe you mean the alcoholic loner detective cliché, but if the novel has a detective as the main character and he solves the crime to come back and solve another, I don’t call that novel noir. The main character has to spiral down. Maybe that’s a cliché that I like.
Some of your favorite film noirs?
Body Heat is my all-time favorite noir film with Fargo coming in as a close second.
And films beside noir?
Shaun of the Dead might be my favorite horror/comedy and Best in Show my favorite comedy. Y Tu Mama, Tambien for favorite foreign film. I can’t think of anything serious at the moment.
Which fictional character (book or film) would you favor to kill face-to-face?
I suppose I would like to kill all my characters when they don’t do what I want them to! However, I can’t think of anyone in specific from noir. If I don’t like a book, I put it down, and if I’m enjoying it, it’s because the characters are so well-drawn that I can understand their twisted personalities and sympathize with their perceived problems. I do get frustrated with Jason Starr’s characters sometimes because they get on the wrong path and just won’t use common sense, but that’s also what makes them lovable also.
Internet?
Questions noir - Your life a film noir
1. Which would be your part in the movie?
I would be the enchanting older woman who has several rich young boyfriends and travels the world with them. Not much of a plot, but I don’t want to come to a bad end.
2. Your nickname in the movie?
Tiger
3. Which author (living or dead) should write the script?
I’ll take the Coen brothers to write and direct.
4. Famous quote in your movie? (Exmaple: Scarface = The World Is Yours, White Heat = Made It Ma, Top Of The World)
I would have to quote Mae West: “Too much of a good thing is wonderful.”
5. Shot in black and white or in color?
Color
6. Soundtrack by …
Bob Marley
7. Which hard-boiled noir-hero would lead you to your doom?
There are no noir heroes—after I’ve had my fill of travel, I get the money to buy a tropical island where the guys continue to visit.
8. Your getaway car?
A red Jeep for my getaway car, meaning to getaway to the isolated beaches on the island.
9. Your weapons?
Weapons: lobster, beer, and charm. By the way, I think all good noir writers drink beer, or else they’ve had to give up drinking.
10. Book for your prison sentence?
Life sentence on the island.
11. Finally: Epigraph on your tombstone?
Too much of a good thing?
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