Bye bye, the Jury (On Mickey Spillane)

So farewell then, Mickey Spillane. No longer full of vinegar, the best-selling author of the 20th century died earlier this week. Obituarists point out that he would hate the way critics came to re-appraise him, recognising his work as a prose stylist and seeing how even Cold War rhetoric could become kitsch over time. He was politically reactionary and a hard-working guy. A man with a Hammer who saw nails everywhere. Based on his innovations in the 1940s and 1950s, and a charming appearance at the National Film Theatre I once attended, I grew to like him. He'll be missed.