Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze

What a sad, and maybe a little curious, thing that Black Lizard Books failed to reissue Elliott Chaze's Black Wings Has My Angel when they had the opportunity.  Apparently they had been planning to do so when the company was sold and the new editors "deemed it unworthy of publication."  The French certainly know their noir crime classics, as for a long time it was only available in a French translation until NYRB Classics picked it up and published it just last month.  My January subscription book was a long time coming, but once it arrived I literally inhaled the story.  So, curious to think that a publisher known for their crime classics thought it wouldn't have a readership.  I thought it highly readable, darkly entertaining and quite impressive in terms of the quality of writing.  It sounds like this might well be the best of Chaze's fiction, but if you are going to have one very good book in you, this is surely a good one to have.

"It was a perfect fit for what the publisher and I [Barry Gifford, the editor] were doing at Black Lizard, putting out books that were psychologically provocative, on the edge, and more often than not, over the edge."

In the introduction to the book, which does a great job of filling in the background of the book's publication history, Gifford compares Chaze to some well-known and equally respected crime writers--Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford, David Goodis who were all writing during the early and mid-part of the twentieth century.  Like many of that period Chaze wrote in the Hemingway-school style of fiction--getting down to the essence of the story, and the storytelling is anything but frivolous.  It's direct, clean, prose and it suits the sort of story this is.  The storyteller, a criminal with little to lose and not much sympathy for anyone but himself, doesn't need any embellishments as he explains how he almost got away with the perfect crime. 

Even though this is a rather dark tale and both protagonists are about as immoral (or amoral) as they come, they are not necessarily unlikable.  They are curious and interesting to watch and read about and you almost want them to get away with the sordid plan they have hatched.  Actually neither quite trusts the other.  Maybe they are just too much alike, but despite their distrust of each other they are nonetheless attracted to and maybe even a little in love with the other, at least as much as either is capable. 

Tim Sunblade is a recent escapee from the state penitentiary who has managed to evade notice and work on a drilling rig in order to make a little money.  Cash in his pockets and time on his hands, he arranges for a little female companionship which comes in the form of Virginia who he christens a "ten-dollar-tramp", but she'll turn out to be worth her weight in gold.  The problem is trust, of which he has very little (with good reason) when it comes to this elegant hell-cat.

"Her eyes were lavender-gray and her hair was light creamy gold and springy-looking, hugging her head in curves rather than absolute curls.  She wore a navy-blue beret of the kind you associate with European movies."

Tramp or not there is more to Virginia than meets the eye, and she's surely worth a whole lot more than a mere $10 even by 1950s standards.  Her past is as checkered as Tim's and neither is willing to own up to the truth of their own past.  It's as if they eye each other warily, size the other up, know the other's number and see each is as corrupt and jaded and is willing to let whatever messy past stay hidden and secret.  For now at least.  For now each needs the other, but trust is shallow at best.

The thing with this pair is they each value money just a little too much and they see in the other a willing compatriot in what might well be the perfect crime.  Robbing a bank truck, quick and easy and a big pay off, but in order for it to work, there must be two people working in tandem.  Tim was the recipient of the plan while he was incarcerated and before his fellow prison-mate decided to take a quick exit from life.  But Tim has gone over every detail, worked out how it must go to work and what might happen to create a snag.  If they just stick to the plan closely, it will work like a charm and they'll never have to worry about money again.

Tim and Virginia are equally matched when it comes to brains and a complete lack of fear.  They both also come from the school of hard knocks and trust the other not at all.  They share a passion--for money--and sometimes for each other.  But it is a love-hate sort of relationship.  They think nothing of getting rid of the other should the need arise, or of absconding with the cash.  You know from almost the get-go how things will turn out, but how it all unravels is, of course, the great pleasure in reading this book.  If you like your crime fiction dark and dirty and very, very well done, you should give Elliott Chaze's Black Wings Has My Angel a go.  Definitely noir fiction at its best.

I'm reading the February NYRB Classic now, More Was Lost: A Memoir by Eleanor Perenyi, which is as charming as the Chaze was dark.  And once again, I am watching my mailbox for the March book, which is a newly published novel by Patrick Modiano.

Comments

[Stefanie]

Worth the wait? Seems like it. Glad this year's NYRB reading is off to a good start. But no surprise is was good. Do they even publish bad books?

[Danielle]

Yes, it was definitely a good one to start out with. Not too long, a good noir story and a little taste of good things to come. I am now midway through the Feb book, a memoir and waiting (again--anxiously) for the March book. I think they do not publish bad books. Some are certainly more challenging than others, but all very worthy. Have you made any progress on your unread NYRBs from when you subscribed?

[Kailana]

This sounds like a lot of fun. Too bad it is so expensive in Canada (the subscription, I mean). I will have to check this book out one day!

[Stefanie]

Hahahahaha!

Does that answer your question? ;)

[Danielle]

Heh--yes! ;) Thats how I feel about a lot of my reading these days. So much wishful thinking and so little time in which to accomplish it all.

To: literarycat@hotmail.com

[iliana]

I think I've slowly started to appreciate noir fiction more and more. I'm reading some noir short stories right now and they are good. I hadn't heard of this one so will have to keep an eye out for it!

[Danielle]

I love NYRBs! It is a shame that they are not cheaper in Canada. It always comes down to exchange rate and postage, doesn't it?! I know I would be happy to have a Persephone subscription but I could never afford something like that either! If you do come across it and like noir crime novels, it is well worth snapping up!

[Danielle]

I really like hardboiled and noir crime novels and should really read more. I keep meaning to finish reading the other books by Jean-Claude Izzo--I know you read at least one his books, too. Anyway, a great way to start out my year of NYRBs!