[LMB] trashy books for guys - what's the difference?

[Thomas Vinson]

Pete Granzeau notes, with respect to Dick Francis:

> Bur (after reading nearly all of them), a bit formulaic.  For
> instance, someplace in the first third of the book, the hero get the
> *#%@ beaten out of him, just to warn him off of whatever he's doing.

He quit a career as a steeplechase jockey after a couple of bad
falls.  I usually got the feeling from his books that the protagonist
had a masochistic/machismo outlook and felt he hadn't put in
an honest day's work unless he had a few boken bones to show
for it.  I also got the feeling that, no matter what his actual standing
with the law, the protagonist believed strongly in putting in an
honest day's work.

Tom