tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post109112699103392851..comments2024-03-28T13:18:28.238+00:00Comments on Grumpy Old Bookman: Jake Arnott and The Long FirmMichael Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11338398159818400930noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6656468.post-1119110151070155482005-06-18T16:55:00.000+01:002005-06-18T16:55:00.000+01:00It is indeed not a great book (it is worth compari...It is indeed not a great book (it is worth comparing it with the early 70s film 'Villain' which was a similar take on the Krays story, but done well before the truth was known to the general public).<BR/><BR/>His second book is substantially better (perhaps because it is more politically angry, but also perhaps because it covers events in Arnott's lifetime rather than ones only known through TV and books).<BR/><BR/>The third - I've had no urge to read. <BR/><BR/>But was it because he was gay that he got the advance, or because of the prevailing Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels culture - it was heavily promoted in lads mags where they played down his sexuality, wheras for the broadsheets that was a selling point. Any agent would have been able to see the film/TV potential was probably worth more than the book sales.<BR/><BR/>And there's an awful lot of crap that you wonder how it got published written by straight authors - why presume it's his sexuality?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com