Shannon Clute

United States

Profile Information:

Hometown:
Norcross, GA
About Me:
I'm a former professor of French and Italian, now trying to launch a "career" writing mysteries . I co-host (with Richard Edwards) two podcasts: "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" and "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed." My first book, a Chandler-esque tale of corruption entitled THE MINT CONDITION, was one of ten semi-finalists in the Court TV "Next Great Crime Writer" contest. I'm currently shopping the new one, WHAT GOES AROUND, which I like to think of as the dark love child of Cain and Thompson. When I'm not writing or podcasting, I'm hiking, listening to baseball, or reading about Arts & Crafts architecture.
I Am A:
Writer
Website:
http://www.noircast.net
Books And Authors I Like:
Any Chandler, Cain, Hammet or Poe; Anything published by Hard Case Crime; Megan Abbott's THE SONG IS YOU; Paul Auster's MOON PALACE and NEW YORK TRILOGY; Wendell Berry's WHAT ARE PEOPLE FOR; Lawrence Block's GRIFTER'S GAME; Any Italo Calvino; Jonathan Carroll's FROM THE TEETH OF ANGELS; Reed Coleman's SOUL PATCH; F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED; Nikos Kazantzakis's ZORBA THE GREEK; Day Keene's HOME IS THE SAILOR; Leonard Koppett's CONCISE HISTORY OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL; Paul Malmont's THE CHINATOWN DEATH CLOUD PERIL; Herman Melville's MOBY DICK; Eddie Muller's THE DISTANCE; Vladimir Nabokov's PALE FIRE; Rober B. Parker's DOUBLE PLAY; George Perec's LA DISPARITION; Italo Svevo's LA COSCIENZA DI ZENO; Duane Swierczynski's THE WHEELMAN; and many more.
Movies And TV Shows I Like:
Where do I even start? If it was filmed in black and white between '41 and '58, I love it. I'm a big fan of Italian neorealism, and in recent years of the Coen Brothers--especially of BARTON FINK and THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE. I also tend to like screwball comedies of the '30's and '40's, and French cinema of the '90's.

Comment Wall:

  • L. A. Starks

    Super. Thanks for your kind words.

    LAS

    Mar 27, 2007

  • Kevin Burton Smith

    Yeah, this "friend" thing is weird. Like, I know you, you know me, so being "friends" is no big whoops. But who the hell are some of these other barflies?

    I've checked out some of their bios, and they don't seem to write or read or have any connection to crime fiction at all. And these other mokes who use a corporate logo as their photo? They're probably the ones drinking Shirley Temples and white wine spritzers.

    Let's hope they stay at their end of the bar.

    Mar 27, 2007

  • Pari Noskin Taichert

    Bonjour et bienvenue.

    Little known secret: some of us speak Francais in Nuevo Mexico.

    Cool to meet you, Shannon.

    Mar 28, 2007

  • Robert Gregory Browne

    Hey, Shannon. I love your podcast. Just got finished listening to the one of Hollywoodland. Good stuff.

    Mar 29, 2007

  • Miss DaMeaner

    You tease. The podcasts are great but now I neeeeeeed more. More. More. Now. Now. Now. *wave* What. Am I being too aggressive?

    Apr 2, 2007

  • Robert Boris Riskin

    Love your taste in crime.

    And doing drywall is not fun but we gotta eat and pay the mortgage.

    Apr 4, 2007

  • Shannon Clute

    Tisk, tisk, Miss Demeaner. Impatience will land you in an orange suit.

    Very glad to hear you're enjoying the podcasts. We'd love to produce them more often, but to be honest, they take a REALLY long time to do. Worth every minute though.

    Apr 4, 2007

  • Shannon Clute

    You can find all three on DVD. Better yet, they're all available at Netflix!

    Apr 9, 2007

  • Tribe

    Ya know, it just occurred to me that you're one of the guys responsible for the noircasts. I'm a huge fan.

    Apr 12, 2007

  • Shannon Clute

    Hi Tribe. Thanks for stopping by my chatterwall (I'm still not used to saying things like that). We've always appreciated your support of the podcasts. Hope our link to your blog has driven a few people your way. You write one of the best blogs out there, bar none.

    Apr 12, 2007

  • Evil Kev

    Thanks for the invite. Your site is a must-visit as far as I'm concerned

    Apr 12, 2007

  • Megan Abbott

    Hey, Shannon--Just listened to your fabulous HOLLYWOODLAND episode--filled with gems. I love what you say about the 1950s as a decade pulling a hoax on itself....and your proposed noir category reorganization is superb (noir style, faux noir, neo noir)...

    Apr 18, 2007

  • Shannon Clute

    Thanks Megan. As I listened back to that episode, I felt like maybe I was a bit too enthusiastic about the film. But compared to most neo-noir, it really is great. I'm glad you found the new noir categories useful. Truth told, I just needed them so I could keep track of what I was saying. Thanks for "stopping by."

    Apr 18, 2007

  • Joanna Campbell Slan

    Shannon, good to hear from you. How's the knee? All healed up? And the podcasting?

    Thanks for the invitation.

    Aug 29, 2007

  • Kelli Stanley

    Thanks for the invite, Shannon! I'm a noircast fan in a big way! We worship the same pantheon of noir greats (and back when I was studying Italian, I grew to love Italo Calvino and Dino Buzzati).

    And we like fedoras, too! :)

    Aug 29, 2007

  • carole gill

    Well I there and thanks! It's nice to meet you! We share so many tastes on books and things and trying to launch! I'm still working on my rocket though! But no one gets anywhere without trying (and then succeeding)!

    Aug 29, 2007

  • Declan Burke

    Hi Shannon - Thanks for the invite, I'm much obliged ... any purveyor of Chandleresque fiction is a friend of mine. Not to mention Kazantzakis ... As for 'the dark love child of Cain and Thompson' ... sounds damn fine by me. If you want to wander over to Crime Always Pays and drop the opening paragraph on us, with a link (?) to the first chapter, we'd be glad to give it a plug. Cheers, Dec

    Aug 31, 2007

  • Jonathan Santlofer

    You can't hide under that fedora, SC.

    Jan 3, 2008

  • Darren Laws

    I'm pretty new here but this looks like a great site for readers and writers of crime fiction. Thanks for accepting the invite. Best wishes for 2008!

    Jan 3, 2008

  • Donna Moore

    Hi Shannon - thanks for the invite!. Love the podcasts as I've said before!

    Jan 4, 2008

  • Shannon Clute

    Hi Gordon,

    Thanks for stopping by my message board Gordon. David Corbett is a friend of mine, and one heck of a writer, so I hope we will have another chance to talk with him soon. Currently, "Behind the Black Mask" is booked through fall, but we may find a way to work him in.

    Thanks for listening.

    Shannon

    May 27, 2008

  • D.R. MacMaster

    Thanks for the comment. And in a interesting twist, I recently picked up Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer and put it on my "to read" stack.

    I really enjoy the podcasts, and run them while I work. Always entertaining and informative.

    Oct 13, 2008

  • jedidiah ayres

    Thanks man, great work.

    Dec 27, 2008