More Good Old Stuff

by John D. MacDonald

A collection of fourteen stories, representing the best of MacDonald's early fiction from the 1940s and 1950s, includes such outstanding tales of mystery and suspense as "Deadly Damsel," "Death for Sale," "Unmarried Widow," and "Neighborly Interest"

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Pulp, Suspense, Crime, Mystery Thriller

342 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

John D. MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Syracuse and Harvard, where he took an MBA in 1939. During WW2, he rose to the rank of Colonel, and while serving in the Army and in the Far East, sent a short story to his wife for sale, successfully. He served in the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. After the war, he decided to try writing for a year, to see if he could make a living. Over 500 short stories and 70 novels resulted, including 21 Travis McGee novels.

Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.

In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.

Reviews

[Greg Strandberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first bit of the first story in this book. It really grabbed me, a woman that goes around marrying men and then killing them for their money. But you know what? It lost me. The writing wandered off.

I did read another story, one about a roadside killing. It was really good. The other stories in the book were just too long, I thought. I think a book of short stories should have stories that are not about 7,500 to 10,000 words, or 30 pages of small type.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK/Novella 154 (of 250)
I selected the first story, "Deadly Damsel", in this collection to review. Just couldn't resist the title.
HOOK - 3 stars: Waking to her husband, a lady realizes she is bored. Should she bury her husband in his blue suit or the gray one?
PACE - 4: Fast for a novella, as it should be.
PLOT - 4: A young girl at 14 is raped. Conventionally, she goes on to marry, but she doesn't care much for her husbands. The structure is beautifully done as the order of the crimes isn't linear in the story, but that only adds to the final punch. And the final crime is doubly criminal. MacDonald layers this story nicely.
CHARACTERS - 2: This is light on characterization: the plot's the thing.
ATMOSPHERE- 3: An odd structure ramps up the tension but the story could be set any place in the universe, or even on an almost blank stage.
SUMMARY: 3.2 for a very good plot and pace, skimpy on other elements.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read this book for what it is, it's very satisfying. It's a collection of fourteen stories written by someone who came to be a great writer in his chosen genre, at the beginning of his career. Many of the stories are also almost seventy years old. With those two facts in mind, reading this book was enjoyable and a nice peek into what entertained the sleuth/adventure magazine reader of the 1940s and '50s.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

pulp fiction crime stories from JDM's early years 1946-49,,,,gritty, violent stuff and tremendous story telling, very, very good

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A second set of short stories from the glory days of pulp fiction.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great collection of his old short stories.

[Megargee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before there was Travis McGee there were the pulps,and pulp fiction is where the late great John D, MacDonald (JDM) learned and honed his craft. This 1984 sequel to his 1982 The Good Old Stuff consists of 14 stories written from 1946 to 1949 just after the end of WW II. These were the days of the "JDM Bibliophile," a fan magazine to which I subscribed, edited by Walter and Jean Shine. As explained by JDM in the introduction, after getting his reluctant approval, the Shines worked with JDM fans Martin Greenberg and Francis Nevins to comb through the hundred of pulp stories published by JDM in the 1940s and 1950s and select 30 or so that they felt stood the test of time.
JDM resisted the temptation to rewrite and improve upon these early efforts, except for
eliminating obvious anachronisms such a a 5 cent cup of coffee or a $500 ransom. The first group published in 1982 was reasonably successful, so JDM OKd the publication of More Good Old Stuff.
As a JDM fan I eagerly dived in to this book, but I confess I was somewhat disappointed. Let's face it, these stories were written more than 70 years ago and, not surprisingly, the callow young JDM was not as good a writer as the mature JDM most of whose subsequent works I have read. That said, they were still enjoyable.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pulp fiction at its best - you can’t beat John D for great short stories.

[B.V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

John D. MacDonald, author of over 70 novels, is best remembered for the books featuring Florida-based private eye Travis McGee, who the Washington Post's Jonathan Yardley called "one of the great characters in contemporary American fiction -- not crime fiction; fiction, period." The prolific author actually got his start writing short stories. While he was in the Army in 1945, he sent a short story home to his wife, who promptly typed it up and submitted it to "Story" magazine. The editors bought it for $25, thus giving MacDonald the idea that he could make a career as a writer. He told Ed Gorman in an interview that after leaving the Army, "I wrote eight hundred thousand words of short stories in those four months, tried to keep thirty of them in the mail at all times, slept about six hours a night and lost twenty pounds."

He eventually sold over six hundred stories to a variety of magazines in a variety of genres, from mystery to sports, to sci-fi, to westerns, to romances. Some of the publications his stories appeared in included crime pulps like "Dime Detective" and "Black Mask," but he was also published in higher-profile glossy 'zines like "Esquire," "Playboy" and "Cosmopolitan." The stories were included in various anthologies and six collections including THE GOOD OLD STUFF and MORE GOOD OLD STUFF.

The 1984 collection, MORE GOOD OLD STUFF, contains 14 of MacDonald's earlier stories from the pulp mystery/detective magazines of the late 1940s. They include "Deadly Damsel," the story of a professional widow (who has wed and murdered five husbands) and an amateur con man who get fatally tangled in a web of their own devising, from which we get lines like these:

"Death gave her a feeling of power that she bore with her wherever she went. She looked at the dull, tidy little lives of the women in the small cities in which she lived, and she felt like a goddess. She could write all manner of things on the black slate of life, and then, with one gesture, wipe the slate clean and begin all over again. New words, new love, new tenderness and a new manner of death... It was good to kill men..."

Or there's "Death for Sale," about a hired killer with a broken soul who stalks a French Nazi-collaborator to a New Orleans restaurant, where hunter and quarry suddenly trade places. MacDoanld wrote in the Foreword that he was "tempted to clean up some of the very stilted dialogue" and change the gimmick at the end of this story, but it would "be unfair to excise the warts to make myself look better than I was."

MacDonald was almost apologetic in his Foreword about how dated some of the stories were (he updated some minor details because of that), but as he also said, "The events of these stories are in a past so recent they could just as well have been written today. And that is a portion of my intent, to show how little the world really changes." Those words could almost serve as a summary of these early stories; although they lack the polish and the more intense, well constructed plots that were to come, the nugget of great storytelling that marks the author's work is all there and changed very little over time, but just got better.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a four year period from 1946-1950 during which JDM plied his trade and taught himself how to write by concentrating solely on penning short stories and novellas for the pulp markets. Some of it was SF but most were in the mystery and suspense genres. The result was 100's of pieces of short fiction, most of it was good and quite a few were downright terrific. After he published first his novel in 1950 he continued to write in the shorter forms right up his untimely death in 1986. In the end JDM wrote over 800 short stories, novelettes, and novellas. In this book and it's precurser, The Good Old Stuff, we get 30 or so short stories from JDM's prime years during which he was at the height of his storytelling prowess. JDM is an interesting writer. Largely self taught he had a natural storytelling ability that he put to good use. He was so good that if someone today or in the future wants to get insight into what America was like during the post WWII era they should check out MacDonald before going any further. He had an inate ability to show you how the world worked and exactly what it was that made people do what they do. Plus, he entertaining as hell. Truth to tell I'd love to see at least 5-6 more volumes like this but for now this all we get so enjoy them while you can.

[Ernest Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

More stories that update the traditional hardboiled hero (called noir these days) for the post World War Two detective pulps. Like his later, bestselling Travis McGee, the are never conventional detectives. Strangely, he felt the need to change prices and years. For me it's jarring for a Nineteen-Forties story to suddenly throw out Nineteen-Eighties stuff, but I suppose younger readers won't notice.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

A companion to The Good Old Stuff and the last of the stories JDM deemed worth of rescuing from the pulp magazine archives. All vintage 1946-1949, and with equal parts brilliance and warts, as you'd expect from a writer first learning his craft. Fun reading and I love to compare these with JDMs later work as it quite instructive.

[Mike Glaser · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old shipmate always spoke fondly of his love for John D MacDonald and his Travis McGee books, so I decide to give the series a try. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the first book in the series so I picked up this collection of short stories instead in order to get a feel for his writing. I definitely enjoyed it and now I am looking forward to starting the other series.

[wally · Rating 4 out of 5]

#55 from macdonald for me
16 aug 15
5 sep 15 finished

taking longer to read these days...not much time. good stuff meynard

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories

[Tim O'Leary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though John D. MacDonald was one of the preeminent, and most prolific, post-war, old school authors of pulp crime fiction publishing some 500 magazine stories from the late 40s and 50s, along with 69 novels, 20 of a series that would famously follow with colors in their titles featuring "hard-boiled" (why is this lame, trite cliche so frequently used to describe the genre?) Detective Travis McGee, he is curiously absent from best-rated authors who frequently make the short lists so trendily sited. To reiterate one of the most quotable soundbites from the movie "Patton," I have only one word in response to these so-called listicle-publishing social influencers: "Nuts." MacDonald ranks right up there with Chandler, and that's saying alot! Several of the McGee paperbacks originally caught my attention on a family bookshelf at the top of the carpeted steps in the house where I grew up. Or, it may have been the other in my parents' bedroom. Bookshelves, adequately stocked (see also: public library) are good things to have if you're raising kids who might be bored enough to pick up a book when the insufferable heat and humidity of sweltering dog days forces them to endure either the confines of a crypt-damp cinderblock-walled basement, or the swirling clouds of mosquitos and biting deer flies outside. Fast-forward to a used bookstore where, in these dog days, and more grimly, during the continued outbreak of damnable stoopidity and covidity, I find this collection of 14 short stories from his early career deemed as among his best. A find! Published two years, no less, after "The Good Old Stuff" which, in the same vein of skimming the cream from the top, was so well received in 1982. Had never before known of their existence. Much as the two hardbound collections are a set, have subsequently found the first (not easy, and not many in nearly-new condition) and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. To whit:

For many years Bay Street was the place. Bar whiskey for thirty cents a shot, or a double slug for fifty. A waterfront street, where dirty waves slapped at the crushed pilings behind the saloons. A street to forget with. A street which would close in on you, day to day, night to night, until the wrong person saw some pitying old friend slip you a five. They would find you at dawn, and an intern from City General would push your eyelid up with a clean pink thumb and say, "More meat for the morgue."

But something happened to Bay Street...
...the old saloons were uprooted, and for a time there was no place at all for the Bay Street bums. Then some of the old places started up again on Dorrity Street, four blocks inland, and soon it was all the same as before, with the stale smell of spilled beer, the steamy chant of the jukes, hoarse laughter, the scuff of broken shoes, the wet sound of fist against flesh.

Noir. Straight as a two-finger shot of rye with a water chaser, a mooched cigarette and the brooding company of a worn-out, haggard blonde where the dark roots were showing. Not that she cared. I sure as hell didn't. Gotta go with it. Booktender, make it another. Another of Big Mac's hardcover hard knocks best.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere along the line in reading my way through Stephen King's bibliography, I recall running across one character who learns that a different character has never read John D. MacDonald's work, and he responds with something like "I envy you, still having that pleasure ahead of you." It always stuck with me — what kind of writer would Stephen King love, given how King jumps around from science fiction to Westerns to fantasy to pulp crime to modern-day vignettes?

Turns out, judging from this collection, that he got some of that eclecticism from MacDonald. This is an anthology of MacDonald's 1940s pulp short stories, which are heavy on the cops, criminals, lowlifes, and heroes, with a lot of classy dames in the mix. This is fairly early work for him, and some of it is kind of rough, with an O. Henry sense for punchlines and pretty minimal characterization. But most of these stories are very grabby and immediate, some with twisty plots and mysteries to unravel, some just with good-hearted lunks and schemey villains. Sometimes the protagonists are the villains. Either way, there's a good variety of lengths and tones, and a lot of stories that sink their hooks in fast and effectively, and I enjoyed this one a lot.

[King Crimson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most also know of his earlier version "The Good Old Stuff", published two years earlier. While both contain a good representation of his early short stories, keep in mind that he wrote over 400 short stories and dozens of non-fiction articles during his lifetime. Plus 78 books, some resulting in movie adaptation. So there's lots to choose from!
Other anthologies of his short stories include "S*E*V*E*N", "End of the Tiger" and "Other Times, Other Worlds". This last title contains 16 of his 47 sci-fi short stories. Many of his short stories appeared in Sunday newspaper suppliments (remember those?) as well as magazines printed on glossy or "slick" paper. "Cosmopolitan" magazine alone published 36 of them.
The JDM rabbit hole is very wide and very deep. I've been collecting his works for many years.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some short stories from the the pulp crime magazine era. I'm a big fan of MacDonald's Travis McGee series, so I wanted to read some of his early stuff. Mostly good, with stories varying quite a bit in length, and many with his trademark twisty, abrupt ending. Published shortly before his death, MacDonald admits in the forward that he edited a few things here and there (a la George Lucas) to fit modern times. At first I didn't like that idea, but it was very subtle and frankly I didn't notice it. Worth reading if you like this genre. You can tell that even this early on there's a talented writer at work.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

MacDonald's short stories are pure treasures. Many of the endings are unexpected and there is one story here where I was rooting for the "Bad Guy", who ultimately does the right thing, but at an extreme cost. And the last story has just a touch of the supernatural.

So glad I bought this copy--I had read some of the stories years ago, but that copy had a huge printing error, with a lot of missing pages.

[Jeffrey Powanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

More pulp crime stories from MacDonald's early career, the late Forties. A surprising number of stories involve widespread corruption and organized crime. All the stories are good, but the collection is slightly weaker than The Good Old Stuff, which had more variety in tone and setting.

[Kayoc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun read.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was/am a big fan of John MacDonalds "Travis McGee" series and (all his novels). I picked this up at a thrift store a few years ago and finally got around to reading it. It's the sequal to "Good Old Stuff" and a collection of short stories he wrote for magazines before his novels were published. Some great stories written in the 'noir' style.

[Delores Alger · Rating 4 out of 5]

shorts

[John Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first one, but this was damn near twice as good.

[Mark Stattelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! As good as the first one.

[D-day · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 14 short stories. All originally published in the late 40's and rather clumsily updated with occasional references to the 70's for this edition.

The stories:
Deadly Damsel
State Police Report That...
A Corpse In His Dreams
I Accuse Myself
A Place To Live
Neighbouly Interest
The Night Is Over
Secret Stain
Even Up The Odds
Verdict
The High Gray Walls of Hate
Unmarried Widow
You Remember Jeannie

The best probably is The Night Is Over, but they are all pretty good, although none are especially memorable