In a Huff

Levi's back from vacation, with some delightful posts, including this one about names. On a recent viewing of Double Indemnity:

And that name: Walter Neff. He was Walter Huff in Cain's novel, but the name was changed for the movie, and now it's perfect. The sound and the feel of it are just right for a guy who thinks just a little too highly of himself and is willing to be unscrupulous--but who is, ultimately, just another patsy in the hands of someone who instantly saw through him and had even fewer scruples than he did.

It makes a nice companion piece to Robert Cohen's article on naming in the upcoming (Aug.) Believer, "The Untragic Death of Henry Gladfelter." (I won't say too much more about issue #46 till it hits the stands, but fans of HBO's The Wire should note that Nick Hornby conducts a long and interesting interview with show creator David Simon.)