The getaway car : a Donald Westlake nonfiction miscellany / edited by Levi Stahl ; with a new foreword by Lawrence Block.
Material type:
TextPublisher: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2014Description: xix, 223 pages ; 23 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 022612181X (pbk. : alk. paper)
- 9780226121819 (pbk. : alk. paper)
- Works. Selections. 2014
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 813.54 W529 | Available | 33111009636891 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Over the course of a fifty-year career, Donald E. Westlake published nearly one hundred books, including not one but two long-running series, starring the hard-hitting Parker and the hapless John Dortmunder. In the six years since his death, Westlake's reputation has only grown, with fans continuing to marvel at his tightly constructed plots, no-nonsense prose, and keen, even unsettling, insights into human behavior.
With The Getaway Car , we get our first glimpse of another side of Westlake the writer: what he did when he wasn't busy making stuff up. And it's fascinating. Setting previously published pieces, many little seen, alongside never-before-published material found in Westlake's working files, the book offers a clear picture of the man behind the books-including his thoughts on his own work and that of his peers, mentors, and influences. The book opens with revealing (and funny) fragments from an unpublished autobiography, then goes on to offer an extended history of private eye fiction, a conversation among Westlake's numerous pen names, letters to friends and colleagues, interviews, appreciations of fellow writers, and much, much more. There's even a recipe for Sloth à la Dortmunder. Really.
Rounded out with a foreword by Westlake's longtime friend Lawrence Block, The Getaway Car is a fitting capstone to a storied career and a wonderful opportunity to revel anew in the voice and sensibility of a master craftsman.
Includes index.
My second life: Fragments from an autobiography -- Donald E. Westlake, aka. ... -- So tell me about this job we're gonna pull: On genre -- Ten most wanted: Ten favorite mystery books -- Returning to the scene of the crime: On his own work -- Lunch break: May's famous tuna casserole -- The other guys in the string: Peers, favorites, and influences -- Coffee break: Letter to Ray Broekel -- Anything you say may be used against you: Interviews -- Midnight snack: Gustatory notes from all over -- Side jobs: Prison breaks, movie mobsters, and radio comedy -- Signed confessions: Letters -- Jobs never pulled: Title ideas -- Death row (Or, The happily ever afterlife): Letter to Ralph L. Woods.
"Collection of published and unpublished gems: a memoir about learning to write, an imaginary interview between Westlake's various identities, essays on writing, introductions, and letters to writers like Stephen King and Brian Garfield. A true miscellany, this includes a piece by Abigail Westlake, a recipe for "May's Famous Tuna Casserole" and a 'Midnight snack'."--From the publisher.