tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post1253825093034567266..comments2024-03-25T11:29:25.356-04:00Comments on Existential Ennui: Dortmunder Daze / Parker Progress Report for Donald E. Westlake Day: a Review of Jimmy the Kid (Dortmunder #3, 1974), feat. Child HeistNick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)http://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-60552444277047962182012-02-19T07:43:32.615-05:002012-02-19T07:43:32.615-05:00Westlake always did like to reward serious readers...Westlake always did like to reward serious readers, though. You get a lot more fun out of the Parker series if you read it in order, because of all the references to past books. Probably one reason why Butcher's Moon was out of print so long is that it's full of references to all but one or two of the previous 15 novels--there's almost no point to reading it until you've finished the preceding books. <br /><br />So he knew a lot of Dortmunder fans wouldn't get it, but they wouldn't have to, really. JtK must have sold pretty well at the time, or else there wouldn't have been ten subsequent Dortmunder novels (and an 11th being written at the time of Westlake's death).<br /><br />But for me, the question is--will I like Dortmunder as much as Parker and Tobin? Right now, I feel like I probably won't, but we'll see how I feel after Hot Rock and Bank Shot.<br /><br />The best Westlake book (under any name) that I've read so far is The Ax. And all you need to know to read that one is that life isn't fair, and corporations suck.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-23113616183808633722012-02-19T06:31:39.492-05:002012-02-19T06:31:39.492-05:00That's the thing, Chris: I'm sure there ar...That's the thing, Chris: I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who still have no idea that Westlake and Stark are the same man. If all you've read are the Dortmunders, then the parts of Child Heist in Jimmy the Kid wouldn't register as anything other than a made-up book by a made-up author. And that must have been even more true back when the book was first published: the biggest joke in the novel is one that very few people would have even got!Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-66269611277674319462012-02-17T09:58:15.018-05:002012-02-17T09:58:15.018-05:00I haven't even started on the Dortmunders yet-...I haven't even started on the Dortmunders yet--be reading The Hot Rock shortly. Jimmy the Kid is hard to get for a decent price online--I guess I could download it for my iPad, but I'm resisting ebooks with all my might and main. <br /><br />I mentioned Westlake to a friend recently, and she said she loved his work--but all she knew was the Dortmunders--maybe a few of the other humorous heist novels not featuring him. She'd never even heard of Parker, or Richard Stark, so I'm guessing she hasn't read Jimmy the Kid, or else she just forgot.<br /><br />So having finished all the Parkers, half the Grofields, all the Tobins, and two Westlake-penned one-shots (The Ax and Humans)--now I'm getting to the books people know him best for.<br /><br />That reminds me, have to find a copy of Anarchaos somewhere. ;)Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.com