The Long - Legged Fly

PI novels seem to be, for the most part recognizable when you are reading one. I hate to go so far as to say that there is a template but there are enough shared traits in them that certain things become expected. James Sallis and his PI Lew Griffin break the mold create something new.

The novel is divided up into four dated parts, 1964, 1970, 1982, and 1990. Each section is autonomous and complete in its telling. Which immediately shows us at least one trait that isn’t common for the genre, Sallis allows his protagonist to age.

The 1964 and 1970 portions are fairly straightforward missing persons cases. They get wrapped up pretty succinctly. These sections are not about procedure, this is, was, and always will be the saga of Lew Griffins life. But they do illustrate how fictional PI cases have a tendency to get solved. The people that are concerned about the missing person go to the PI with the case; the PI is a man of the people that has connections with anyone and everyone in all walks of life. He then uses his network of contacts to pick up the trail of the missing person then eventually track them down. But perhaps more important he is a man of the town if not the in many ways the physical embodiment of the town itself. Its probably fair to say that this isn’t how its done in the real world but its an effective device that allows the author to infuse his chosen locale with life so that that the city becomes its own character in the book. In this case Griffins interactions with the people of New Orleans bring the city to life.

But don’t let this discussion of templates fool you; this is a top-notch example of the PI form.

The 1964 & 1970 sections deal externally with the issue of race whereas the 1982 section deals with the issue on a more intimate level. Griffin is a black man that may or may not want to be white but he is certainly having a hard time with his place in this world. As the 1970 section comes to an end he finds that his life is on the upswing, he has found a certain level of stability and a peace of mind born of that stability. 12 years later though he finds himself emerging from a dark period of life that put him in a mental hospital. As the fog lifts he has to heal himself to re-enter life in the waking world. He finds help, love and a new lease on life with one of the nurses that cared for him in the hospital. There is a case to be solved here but it is secondary to the further development of Griffin as we bear witness to the rebuilding of his life and sanity.

The book up until this point had an existential tinge to it, that in fact will become one of the hallmarks of the entire series, Griffin is a thinker in his quiet moments and these reflections on self, identity and life serve to put these books in a league all their own.




The fourth section, 1990, finds Griffin in a different place. Its a place that that has never been traveled to by other authors. Three things happen that are important in this final section, one of which has already been mentioned. First he is contacted by his ex wife. She tells him that their son, David, is missing. This becomes the central "case" in the home stretch. But as the book draws to a close David still hasn’t been located and the books ends with his disappearance still weighing heavily on him. A Case going unsolved may be closer to real life but is a complete rarity in fiction.


Second, as has been mention at the beginning, Griffin is getting older and is aware of it; this too is near unheard of.

Third is the way in which the character develops that is unique to the form. He goes back to college to finish his B.A. at Dillard. He becomes a teacher at the college, teaching courses in French and writing. Wait, what was that last word, yes, writing. It seems that Griffin has starting writing a series of successful PI novels about a Cajun detective in New Orleans. So, it is entirely plausible that Griffin is in fact writing his own story. At time the book plays with its own self awareness with sentences like.




The bottom line for The Long - Legged Fly is that Sallis has created a thoroughly unique character and, while keeping an eye on the old form, created something entirely fresh and new.


--Brian Lindenmuth