tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post5948668512767709381..comments2024-03-14T05:11:55.141-04:00Comments on Existential Ennui: Elmore Leonard's Debut Crime Novel: The Big Bounce; First Edition (Gold Medal, 1969); Robert McGinnis Cover Art; ReviewNick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)http://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-40863160404211803672012-12-03T08:07:01.558-05:002012-12-03T08:07:01.558-05:00Good discussion, Nick. I hope you don't mind m...Good discussion, Nick. I hope you don't mind me stepping in with some related news on Contrappasso Magazine, which I edit. You may recall we featured a James Crumley interview in our first issue earlier this year.<br /><br />Now I want to direct your attention to two interviews with Elmore Leonard in our latest issue. Australian academic Anthony May spent a few days with Elmore in Detroit in the early 1990s, and they reconvened in Sydney a few years later. Transcripts of these conversations finally appear for the first in Contrappasso - they've never been published anywhere before.<br /><br />It's a gigantic interview transcript of some 65-pages, and goes far beyond the usual puff piece. Elmore discusses his approach to writing in great detail, his career in the publishing trade and in Hollywood, and so much more.<br /><br />Some excerpts from the long interview will appear on our website over the coming weeks (I'll let you know)m but the only place to read the full interview is in the print edition ($14 at Amazon.com) or ebook edition (just $5 at either Amazon or Smashwords). There's lots more great stuff in there to appeal to crime readers.<br /><br />www.contrappasso.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-56765750342159442542012-12-02T15:50:59.839-05:002012-12-02T15:50:59.839-05:00Actually, I'd vote for Dashiell Hammett, who i...Actually, I'd vote for Dashiell Hammett, who is the daddy of 'em all. Raymond Chandler--eh. He's okay. That was basically Donald Westlake's attitude, and based on what I've read so far, I kind of agree. But I think Westlake was a pretty big fan of Elmore Leonard--and I believe the feeling was mutual. Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-44338418093245103122012-12-01T12:05:34.292-05:002012-12-01T12:05:34.292-05:00Eloquently and authoritatively put, Mike. And look...Eloquently and authoritatively put, Mike. And look! Your comment actually made it through the captcha process this time! That's gotta help the ol' blood pressure, surely.Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-5424206569783917392012-12-01T06:24:31.775-05:002012-12-01T06:24:31.775-05:00Never read an Elmore Leonard? No wonder my blood p...Never read an Elmore Leonard? No wonder my blood pressure is up!<br />Leonard is probably the most important stylistic influence on crime writing in English since Raymond Chandler (though Elmore would vote for George V. Higgins)and is often cited as 'the crime writer's crime writer'. <br />I discovered him in 1984 when I found copies of Split Images and Gold Coast (both excellent) which had been published in the UK by W H Allen in a dump bin in a branch of Littlewoods (!) for 50p each.<br />That summer, in San Francisco on business, I trawled the bookshops for his backlist - including the excellent westerns Valdez Is Coming<br />and the classic Hombre.<br />And if you want a masterclass in how to finish a thriller, try the last few pages of Cat Chaser...Brilliant!Mike Ripleyhttp://www.shotsmag.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-459918230983668872012-11-30T13:59:25.301-05:002012-11-30T13:59:25.301-05:00I've definitely had that impression. Leonard ...I've definitely had that impression. Leonard is better-known (actually makes the best-seller lists), and probably the genre-snob in me rebels against that. Like you don't want to get me started about how much more I think of Philip K. Dick and James Tiptree Jr. than I do of Kurt Vonnegut. But that's hardly fair to Leonard, who has never tried to pretend he's above the genre he writes in. He's just at the top of that genre. Along with Westlake, Block, Rabe, Hammett, etc. And I've read all of those others, so I've got to get to him. At some point. Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-26118278606498478922012-11-30T13:37:59.320-05:002012-11-30T13:37:59.320-05:00Haha, fair enough. You should try an EL though. He...Haha, fair enough. You should try an EL though. He and DEW have more than a few things in common.Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-39317177714680903612012-11-30T13:33:20.762-05:002012-11-30T13:33:20.762-05:00I've seen "The Tall T", with Randolp...I've seen "The Tall T", with Randolph Scott, directed by Budd Boeticher. Several times. Will that do? It shall have to do. I'm reading another Westlake now. :)Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-8856093628578373462012-11-30T12:50:56.725-05:002012-11-30T12:50:56.725-05:00Right, for that, I'm gonna assign you some hom...Right, for that, I'm gonna assign you some homework: go read Pronto and Riding the Rap. I want to see your report on my desk on Monday.Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-12848235004963663682012-11-30T10:58:11.777-05:002012-11-30T10:58:11.777-05:00A year and a half in blog-time is like an eternity...A year and a half in blog-time is like an eternity, but I did remember you writing about Justified. I just didn't remember exactly what you wrote. Please note, you didn't mention that Elmore Leonard used to write westerns, and that Raylan is essentially a character from one of his early stories transplanted to one of his later stories. Because that was really too glaringly obvious for you to mention. But not for me. ;)Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-30447212072461301352012-11-30T10:48:25.381-05:002012-11-30T10:48:25.381-05:00I'll pretend you are too, Chris. And let's...I'll pretend you are too, Chris. And let's both just pretend I didn't post <a href="http://www.existentialennui.com/2011/02/justified-raylan-givens-in-elmore_08.html" rel="nofollow">this</a> a year and a half ago...Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-11394136709398680032012-11-30T10:40:00.818-05:002012-11-30T10:40:00.818-05:00It'll give you some idea of how new I am to th...It'll give you some idea of how new I am to this genre that I've never read an Elmore Leonard. I've seen some films made from his novels (hasn't everyone?), I watch "Justified" faithfully, but the originals are still on my to-do list. <br /><br />Actually, now I think on it, isn't "Justified" (and "Fire in the Hole", the story it's based on) basically a blend of Leonard's first genre with the one he became famous for? A western-style hero (albeit not from the west) in a contemporary crime setting. I can't be the first (or the 500th) person to think of that, but I'll just pretend I am. ;)Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.com