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Friday, January 2, 2009

Books Donald Westlake

Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 2:56 PM

The mystery novelist (whose Parker novels I have recently written about on Slog) died at the very end of 2008.

You can't really go wrong with a Westlake novel, especially if it's one of the Parker series written under the pseudonym Richard Stark. I suggest hitting up a used bookstore tonight and spending a little bit of your weekend with one of his books. I'm glad he lived to see his work appreciated in a broader context than 'dime store thriller.'

Comments (6) RSS

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No, no, no -- not Parker. Dortmunder. Just as well-plotted, but FUNNY.

Posted by Fnarf on January 2, 2009 at 3:20 PM

I grew up on both the Parker and Dortmunder novels - all of them fun reads. Finding a Richard Stark paperback in a used bookstore is pretty rare - and when you do they're usually priced above $25. (Why is that?) Hard Case Crime recently republished one of them ("Lemons Never Lie"), though it wasn't one of his best efforts.

Posted by Free Lunch on January 2, 2009 at 3:22 PM

Dortmunder when you want to get into a good mood.
Parker when the world is kicking you in the teeth and you'd just as soon kick back.
Both are awesome.

Posted by bbilly on January 2, 2009 at 3:40 PM

Westlake's "The Hot Rock" (made into a pretty good movie with Robert Redford) is the origin of the immortal phrase "Afghanistan banana stand." I've been picturing that a lot lately.

Posted by Charlie on January 2, 2009 at 3:43 PM

One of the coolest announcements from last summer's Comic Con was that comic creator Darwyn (New Frontier, Batman:Ego) Cooke was adapting the first four Parker books into graphic novels, for IDW Publishing...

http://worldofkane.blogspot.com/2008/07/…

Posted by sad fanboy on January 2, 2009 at 4:06 PM

Hard Case Crime has also published Eastlake's 361 and Somebody Owes Me Money, and has The Cutie scheduled for March 2009.

Posted by Matty Worth on January 3, 2009 at 11:20 AM