W.C. Heinz

The writer W.C. Heinz has passed away, at age 93. Actually, I'm a bit surprised that he was still alive. Having read his best-known novel, The Professional, years ago, I remembered the prose as being so old-school that I just figured he had been gone for decades. I checked back in my reading list, and found it was 2001 when I read The Professional. Here's what I had to say back then:

Heinz is a contemporary of Algren's (both were highly regarded by Hemingway), and this book's themes are vaguely reminiscent of Algren: a boxer pulls himself out of society's lower class, gets a title shot and loses everything on one tiny, impulsive mistake. The narrative portions of this novel are extremely well-written, but ultimately the book bogs down from unnecessary or misplaced dialogue.

I more or less stand by that assessment today. Though I remember him as not having a great ear for dialogue (despite what Elmore Leonard says in that obit), Heinz knew boxing exceptionally well, and the book's fight scenes are outstanding. If you're a boxing fan or (like me) you have a perverse but detached interest in the sport, I strongly suggest you track the book down.