The One Hand Clapping novels are all about fusing East and West to create an exciting new crime genre of 'pulp Zen.' While Zen City, Iso is all 1940s noir, Man in a Zen Ambulance draws on 1950s music and styles, Westerns and samurai.
One memorable group of characters in Ambulance are the
Four Noble Truths, the samurai hit men who shoot it out
with the monk in an extended gunfight across the burning town-with-no-name. 'Four Noble Truths' is
taken from the four fundamental truths underlying Buddhist teaching. The Truths dress in
the style of classic British Teddy Boys from the 1950s; the dramatic opening of the story sets out their violent credentials as well as their retro sartorial finery.
Left is a photo of real-life Teddy Boys, some wearing western
string ties, along with drape jackets and waistcoats. The look certainly owes as much to
the classic cowboy gunfighter as to Edwardian gentlemen. Walking down the
street in search of a gunfight – or a duel if you’re a samurai.
Compare them with the Burt Lancaster and co in an iconic scene from The Gunfight at the OK Corral:
Also
compare these more contemporary Teds with Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter,
note the tattoos on the hands:
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