And what the hell do you mean by "Hard-boiled," for that matter? The never-ending quest for a definition of this term (it's been going on at Rara-Avis since at least the last millenium) has provided some pretty lengthy, articulate responses. But the best ones have been the short ones. THE DOHERTY DICTUM Jim Doherty, a friend of this site and mine, came up with, what to me, is just the cleanest, straightest, most straight-up definition of hard-boiled I've come across, on Rara-Avis. "Hard-boiled is tough and colloquial. It's about attitude. That's really all there is to it." Jim also serves up a pretty good definition of noir, by the way. Mark Best gave this quickie definition of the difference between hard-boiled and noir in December 2001, on the ShortMystery list: "For me, it is a matter of hope... there is none in noir, while there is in hardboiled." Margolies goes on to suggest that contemporary interest in detective fiction is due 'to nostalgia'. Detective fiction: AND WHY DO WE CARE? "Tell us what we would like to believe -- that courage and integrity still count, and perhaps, above all, an individual's actions make a difference: as our lives become more and more bureaucritised, we long for the clarity and decisiveness of the hard-boiled hero." (Edward Margolies, from Which Way Did He Go?) RELATED LINKS And while we're at it, what the hell is Noir? | Table of Contents | Detectives A-L M-Z | Film | Radio | Television | Comics | FAQs | | Trivia | Authors | Hall of Fame | Mystery Links | Bibliography | Glossary | Search | | What's New: On The Site | On the Street | Non-Fiction | Fiction | Staff | The P.I. Poll | Drop a dime. Your comments, suggestions, corrections and contributions are always welcome. "...and I'll tell you right out that I'm a man who likes talking to a man that likes to talk."