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The Comedy is Finished
BUT SERIOUSLY, FOLKS.
The year is 1977, and America is finally getting over the nightmares of Watergate and Vietnam and the national hangover that was the 1960s. But not everyone is ready to let it go.
Not aging comedian Koo Davis, friend to generals and presidents and veteran of countless USO tours to buck up American troops in the field. And not the five remaining members of the self-proclaimed People's Revolutionary Army, who've decided that kidnapping Koo Davis would be the perfect way to bring their cause back to life...
The final, previously unpublished novel from the legendary Donald Westlake!
The year is 1977, and America is finally getting over the nightmares of Watergate and Vietnam and the national hangover that was the 1960s. But not everyone is ready to let it go.
Not aging comedian Koo Davis, friend to generals and presidents and veteran of countless USO tours to buck up American troops in the field. And not the five remaining members of the self-proclaimed People's Revolutionary Army, who've decided that kidnapping Koo Davis would be the perfect way to bring their cause back to life...
The final, previously unpublished novel from the legendary Donald Westlake!
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
51 people are currently reading
637 people want to read
About the author
Donald E. Westlake
434 books953 followersDonald E. Westlake (1933-2008) was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950's, churning out novels for pulp houses—often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms such as Richard Stark—but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and Parker, a ruthless criminal. His writing earned him three Edgar Awards: the 1968 Best Novel award for God Save the Mark; the 1990 Best Short Story award for "Too Many Crooks"; and the 1991 Best Motion Picture Screenplay award for The Grifters. In addition, Westlake also earned a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.
Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.
Some of the pseudonyms he used include
• Richard Stark
• Timothy J. Culver
• Tucker Coe
• Curt Clark
• J. Morgan Cunningham
• Judson Jack Carmichael
• D.E. Westlake
• Donald I. Vestlejk
• Don Westlake
Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.
Some of the pseudonyms he used include
• Richard Stark
• Timothy J. Culver
• Tucker Coe
• Curt Clark
• J. Morgan Cunningham
• Judson Jack Carmichael
• D.E. Westlake
• Donald I. Vestlejk
• Don Westlake
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 157 reviews
May 4, 2012
First, full disclosure: Donald E. Westlake was one of my closest friends for over fifty years. Shortly after his death, I had the good fortune to play a role in Hard Case Crime's publication of Memory, a dark existential novel he wrote in the early 60s and shelved when his agent couldn't sell it. I read Memory in manuscript, days after he finished it, and I thought it was brilliant. My opinion hasn't changed.
Twenty years later, Don wrote The Comedy is Finished; he shelved this one when a Scorsese film came out with a theme that was too close to his. (I remember he acknowledged other problems as well. He was renowned as the ranking master of comic suspense, and he'd written a caper novel in which a Bob Hope-type comedian is kidnapped, so how can a reader expect anything but froth and laughs? But the book, while hardly humorless, is overall about as funny as a heart attack. So how do you promote something like that?
As I said, I read Memory back in the day. I didn't get to read The Comedy is Finished until Charles Ardai (more full disclosure: another friend, and a publisher of mine) rescued it from oblivion. And I'm hugely grateful for the chance to read it now. It's a wonderful look at a largely forgotten chapter in American history, contemporary when it was written, a perfect period piece now. I'm biased, we know that, but I enjoyed and admired the book hugely, and I'm pleased to commend it to your attention.
Twenty years later, Don wrote The Comedy is Finished; he shelved this one when a Scorsese film came out with a theme that was too close to his. (I remember he acknowledged other problems as well. He was renowned as the ranking master of comic suspense, and he'd written a caper novel in which a Bob Hope-type comedian is kidnapped, so how can a reader expect anything but froth and laughs? But the book, while hardly humorless, is overall about as funny as a heart attack. So how do you promote something like that?
As I said, I read Memory back in the day. I didn't get to read The Comedy is Finished until Charles Ardai (more full disclosure: another friend, and a publisher of mine) rescued it from oblivion. And I'm hugely grateful for the chance to read it now. It's a wonderful look at a largely forgotten chapter in American history, contemporary when it was written, a perfect period piece now. I'm biased, we know that, but I enjoyed and admired the book hugely, and I'm pleased to commend it to your attention.
March 1, 2012
Aging comedian Koo Davis is kidnapped and held for ransom by the People's Revolution Army. But will the PRA let Koo live even if their demands are met?
Donald E. Westlake wrote The Comedy is Finished sometime during the 1970's but decided not to publish it for a couple reasons. I'll be completely honest. For the first half of the book, I wasn't completely sold on The Comedy is Finished and was planning on giving it a 2. Then Westlake worked his magic.
My reasons for not loving The Comedy is Finished at the beginning are two: the first is that the story is very dated and full of references to the 1960's and Watergate. Westlake's Parker books have an almost timeless quality while this one is very, very much a product of the time it was written. The second reason I wasn't in love with this book is that I found Koo Davis to be more obnoxious than funny.
The story really started clicking for me when the complications began arising and the wheels fell off the kidnappers' plans. Without spoiling too much, there were three plot twists I didn't see coming until it was too late. I actually caught myself getting behind Koo even though I wasn't a big fan of most of his jokes.
The writing is vintage Westlake and does a lot toward earning the book back some points. There were a lot of good similes, some even Chandler-esque. There's a decent amount of violence and a fair amount of smut as well.
For once, there's a posthumously published book I fully approve of. The Comedy is Finished is ultimately an enjoyable read and a worth addition to the Hard Case Crime Series.
Donald E. Westlake wrote The Comedy is Finished sometime during the 1970's but decided not to publish it for a couple reasons. I'll be completely honest. For the first half of the book, I wasn't completely sold on The Comedy is Finished and was planning on giving it a 2. Then Westlake worked his magic.
My reasons for not loving The Comedy is Finished at the beginning are two: the first is that the story is very dated and full of references to the 1960's and Watergate. Westlake's Parker books have an almost timeless quality while this one is very, very much a product of the time it was written. The second reason I wasn't in love with this book is that I found Koo Davis to be more obnoxious than funny.
The story really started clicking for me when the complications began arising and the wheels fell off the kidnappers' plans. Without spoiling too much, there were three plot twists I didn't see coming until it was too late. I actually caught myself getting behind Koo even though I wasn't a big fan of most of his jokes.
The writing is vintage Westlake and does a lot toward earning the book back some points. There were a lot of good similes, some even Chandler-esque. There's a decent amount of violence and a fair amount of smut as well.
For once, there's a posthumously published book I fully approve of. The Comedy is Finished is ultimately an enjoyable read and a worth addition to the Hard Case Crime Series.
December 6, 2016
In the late 1970s, Koo Davis is an aging and iconic comedian best known for his constant USO tours to entertain American troops overseas. Koo is kidnapped by a group of militants left over from the ‘60s who threaten to kill him unless the US government releases ten ‘political prisoners’.
Leave it to a bunch of goddamn hippies to think that kidnapping Bob Hope is a good plan.
A FBI agent who has been exiled from DC for a minor role in Watergate sees getting Koo back as the key to reviving his career. Meanwhile, Koo learns that his captors are a real bag of mixed nuts including a woman who walks around naked to show off the scars she got from a bomb making mishap and a hostile young man who seems to have a grudge against the comedian.
Worst of all is a guy who lectures Koo about all the injustices of the US. If you ever have a choice between being kidnapped by religious extremists who will cut your head off or getting snatched by a ‘60s style hippie determined to show you the light about the unfair nature of the distribution of global resources, pick the guys who have a sword. You’ll suffer less.
According to the introduction Westlake finished this book about the time that the movie The King of Comedy came out, and he decided his plot of kidnapping a famous comedian was too similar so he didn’t publish it. He gave a copy to Max Allan Collins who came forward with it after Westlake’s death.
I enjoyed the first half quite a bit, and Westlake seemed to almost being using this book to say some things about the end of the ‘60s. He came up with several interesting characters and had the plot cooking along nicely, but it just seemed to fragment in the second half of the book. There’s a lot of stuff just kind of dropped as the plot rushes to it’s conclusion. For example, the FBI agent is constantly thinking about trying to use the case to get back to DC in the early part of the book, but it’s never mentioned in the second part.
Westlake fans will probably find it worth reading, but it seems like it could have used another rewrite to get the whole thing to seem more cohesive.
Leave it to a bunch of goddamn hippies to think that kidnapping Bob Hope is a good plan.
A FBI agent who has been exiled from DC for a minor role in Watergate sees getting Koo back as the key to reviving his career. Meanwhile, Koo learns that his captors are a real bag of mixed nuts including a woman who walks around naked to show off the scars she got from a bomb making mishap and a hostile young man who seems to have a grudge against the comedian.
Worst of all is a guy who lectures Koo about all the injustices of the US. If you ever have a choice between being kidnapped by religious extremists who will cut your head off or getting snatched by a ‘60s style hippie determined to show you the light about the unfair nature of the distribution of global resources, pick the guys who have a sword. You’ll suffer less.
According to the introduction Westlake finished this book about the time that the movie The King of Comedy came out, and he decided his plot of kidnapping a famous comedian was too similar so he didn’t publish it. He gave a copy to Max Allan Collins who came forward with it after Westlake’s death.
I enjoyed the first half quite a bit, and Westlake seemed to almost being using this book to say some things about the end of the ‘60s. He came up with several interesting characters and had the plot cooking along nicely, but it just seemed to fragment in the second half of the book. There’s a lot of stuff just kind of dropped as the plot rushes to it’s conclusion. For example, the FBI agent is constantly thinking about trying to use the case to get back to DC in the early part of the book, but it’s never mentioned in the second part.
Westlake fans will probably find it worth reading, but it seems like it could have used another rewrite to get the whole thing to seem more cohesive.
September 15, 2023
John Lennon once bailed out Michael X and later paid for his lawyer after he was accused of murder in his Trinidadian commune.
The insane, the sadistic, the petulant, the traumatized and the unfortunate are attracted to revolutionary movements. That seems to be the main theme in Donald E. Westlake's The Comedy is Finished.
In post-Vietnam America, ageing pro-establishment comedian Koo Williams is kidnapped from his studio by a bunch of Marxist revolutionaries. They demand freedom (free passage to Algeria) for ten people lodged in various US prisons whom they view as comrades, in exchange for Koo. But the establishment, which turned a blind eye to the excesses of the sixties is not willing to budge. They make videos of the so called comrades in which seven of the ten prisoners say they do not want to leave prison or America anymore, and play this to the kidnappers over television. Of the three who are willing to leave, a black panther is not welcome in Algeria. To make matters worse, one of the kidnappers is the illegitimate son of Koo, bent on taking revenge on his absent father. The whereabouts of a petulant rock star who does not care about the Marxist cause, but is in it for the thrills could be the establishments main lead towards the location of Koo and his kidnappers.
This was so different from the Parker novels that I read earlier this year. The plot moves forward mostly through dialog. Westlake throws in some great twists, including one which involved an undercover police officer among the Marxists. The book offers early glimpses of cancel culture post the Vietnam war, when Koo who toured Vietnam to entertain soldiers is given the cold shoulder by liberal audiences and celebrities.
The book is not partisan in its portrayal of the dark side of Marxist revolutionaries. Even Koo, a capitalist, is wracked by self-doubt during his captivity which gives him time to reflect on an experience in Vietnam, when he offered to talk "sense" into a US soldier who had defected to the enemy side. He also develops a strange but touching relationship with his estranged son, who is one of the kidnappers. Westlake wrote this book in the eighties (though it was published only in 2012). So he was well ahead of people like Michel Houellebecq who wrote this in The Elementary Particles:
"Charles Manson was not the monstrous aberration of the hippie movement but its logical conclusion ..... the progressive destruction of moral values in the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties was a logical, inevitable process. Having exhausted the possibilities of sexual pleasure, it was reasonable that individuals, liberated from the ordinary constraints of ordinary morality, should turn their attentions to the wider pleasures of cruelty."
The above lines perfectly describes both Koo and his son Mark, who is one of the kidnappers. Despite his conservative politics, Koo slept around and never took care of his legal wife or the two sons he had with her. As a result, the wife and sons who fly in after learning about Koo's kidnapping are largely indifferent towards the matter of his safety. While Mark, the kidnapper son is a sadist and wants to make Koo suffer. Even the kidnappers have all exhausted their sexual possibilities, each of them having had sex with the other.
Westlake also offers some commentary on celebrity and its fickle nature. The only person who really cares about Koo is his agent, who works hard for his release. While Koo is a conservative asset, the establishment would gladly have him dead if they could capture the kidnappers. In short, Koo despite his Vietnam tours, is expendable.
It is said that history is written by the victors. But in the internet age, where everyone has a say, the victors of history are the ones whose story is told by the most entertaining story tellers. Westlake tells a good story here. I am sure there are other versions of the events of the sixties and the seventies in America.
The insane, the sadistic, the petulant, the traumatized and the unfortunate are attracted to revolutionary movements. That seems to be the main theme in Donald E. Westlake's The Comedy is Finished.
In post-Vietnam America, ageing pro-establishment comedian Koo Williams is kidnapped from his studio by a bunch of Marxist revolutionaries. They demand freedom (free passage to Algeria) for ten people lodged in various US prisons whom they view as comrades, in exchange for Koo. But the establishment, which turned a blind eye to the excesses of the sixties is not willing to budge. They make videos of the so called comrades in which seven of the ten prisoners say they do not want to leave prison or America anymore, and play this to the kidnappers over television. Of the three who are willing to leave, a black panther is not welcome in Algeria. To make matters worse, one of the kidnappers is the illegitimate son of Koo, bent on taking revenge on his absent father. The whereabouts of a petulant rock star who does not care about the Marxist cause, but is in it for the thrills could be the establishments main lead towards the location of Koo and his kidnappers.
This was so different from the Parker novels that I read earlier this year. The plot moves forward mostly through dialog. Westlake throws in some great twists, including one which involved an undercover police officer among the Marxists. The book offers early glimpses of cancel culture post the Vietnam war, when Koo who toured Vietnam to entertain soldiers is given the cold shoulder by liberal audiences and celebrities.
The book is not partisan in its portrayal of the dark side of Marxist revolutionaries. Even Koo, a capitalist, is wracked by self-doubt during his captivity which gives him time to reflect on an experience in Vietnam, when he offered to talk "sense" into a US soldier who had defected to the enemy side. He also develops a strange but touching relationship with his estranged son, who is one of the kidnappers. Westlake wrote this book in the eighties (though it was published only in 2012). So he was well ahead of people like Michel Houellebecq who wrote this in The Elementary Particles:
"Charles Manson was not the monstrous aberration of the hippie movement but its logical conclusion ..... the progressive destruction of moral values in the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties was a logical, inevitable process. Having exhausted the possibilities of sexual pleasure, it was reasonable that individuals, liberated from the ordinary constraints of ordinary morality, should turn their attentions to the wider pleasures of cruelty."
The above lines perfectly describes both Koo and his son Mark, who is one of the kidnappers. Despite his conservative politics, Koo slept around and never took care of his legal wife or the two sons he had with her. As a result, the wife and sons who fly in after learning about Koo's kidnapping are largely indifferent towards the matter of his safety. While Mark, the kidnapper son is a sadist and wants to make Koo suffer. Even the kidnappers have all exhausted their sexual possibilities, each of them having had sex with the other.
Westlake also offers some commentary on celebrity and its fickle nature. The only person who really cares about Koo is his agent, who works hard for his release. While Koo is a conservative asset, the establishment would gladly have him dead if they could capture the kidnappers. In short, Koo despite his Vietnam tours, is expendable.
It is said that history is written by the victors. But in the internet age, where everyone has a say, the victors of history are the ones whose story is told by the most entertaining story tellers. Westlake tells a good story here. I am sure there are other versions of the events of the sixties and the seventies in America.
January 22, 2018
***Thank you Petra X. Your like got me to look back at this review and I found no less fewer than 7 typos.***
I am at least "sort of a fan" of the Parker series written by Westlake (writing as Richard Stark). So when I was looking for something a bit more gritty and realistic and saw this I got it from the library. At the time I did I didn't realize it was his last book.
Of late like many people who read a lot I had burned out a bit on the kind of novel I usually read. That would usually veer toward some kind of fantasy, science fiction or combination thereof. Just because I mostly read these highly imaginative genres it doesn't mean I don't read anything else, I have always tended to (overall) read pretty eclectically. Thus I took a look at the series of books that have been released under the name Hard Case Crime. There I found this.
This book is actually a lot deeper (if you care to look) than the overall story. While the protagonist (Koo Davis) is the center of the story in many ways the heart of the story also involves his kidnappers.
You know I generally don't like hostage/kidnap stories. This one however is interesting on several levels. We're dealing with a time not too long after the end of the Vietnam War...the later '70s. The country is trying to recover and the people are trying (at least overall) to heal the rifts. Koo Davis is a comic/comedian who started back in the end of Vaudeville and became a star on radio. He is now well known by everybody everywhere. Koo has never really been a political comic. Oh he'd made fun of politicians in general but mostly he was a gag man who gave the audience laughs. He had been in on the ground floor of the USO and had for years entertained the American troops. He never really understood what went on around Vietnam.
Koo is so obviously based on Bob Hope the only reason I can come up with for using the name Koo Davis was probably to escape a lawsuit.
The kidnappers are a group of no longer so young people who were part of the want to be revolution movement on the '60s. They have decided that this grand move, kidnapping maybe the best known comic in America will reinvigorate "THE MOVEMENT".
There is a somewhat doubled irony or level of melancholy here also. This book is now set almost 50 years in the past. How many current readers will really grasp the feeling of the late 1960s? More than that how many will be able to grasp how well known...or even who Bob Hope was. I suspect that while older readers (like me) will see Hope right away younger readers will only see Koo Davis a comic who entertains troops while holding a golf club.
I recommend this one. The "journey" that Koo and his captors take, the (may I reuse a word here?) melancholy ending are very well done. The is "almost" a 5...I'd say 4.5.
By the way there is a sort twist that may or may not add to the novel. I'm a little ambivalent about it as it does veer the character away from the actual Hope some. That said...not too far I'm afraid. See what you think.
Highly recommended.
I am at least "sort of a fan" of the Parker series written by Westlake (writing as Richard Stark). So when I was looking for something a bit more gritty and realistic and saw this I got it from the library. At the time I did I didn't realize it was his last book.
Of late like many people who read a lot I had burned out a bit on the kind of novel I usually read. That would usually veer toward some kind of fantasy, science fiction or combination thereof. Just because I mostly read these highly imaginative genres it doesn't mean I don't read anything else, I have always tended to (overall) read pretty eclectically. Thus I took a look at the series of books that have been released under the name Hard Case Crime. There I found this.
This book is actually a lot deeper (if you care to look) than the overall story. While the protagonist (Koo Davis) is the center of the story in many ways the heart of the story also involves his kidnappers.
You know I generally don't like hostage/kidnap stories. This one however is interesting on several levels. We're dealing with a time not too long after the end of the Vietnam War...the later '70s. The country is trying to recover and the people are trying (at least overall) to heal the rifts. Koo Davis is a comic/comedian who started back in the end of Vaudeville and became a star on radio. He is now well known by everybody everywhere. Koo has never really been a political comic. Oh he'd made fun of politicians in general but mostly he was a gag man who gave the audience laughs. He had been in on the ground floor of the USO and had for years entertained the American troops. He never really understood what went on around Vietnam.
Koo is so obviously based on Bob Hope the only reason I can come up with for using the name Koo Davis was probably to escape a lawsuit.
The kidnappers are a group of no longer so young people who were part of the want to be revolution movement on the '60s. They have decided that this grand move, kidnapping maybe the best known comic in America will reinvigorate "THE MOVEMENT".
There is a somewhat doubled irony or level of melancholy here also. This book is now set almost 50 years in the past. How many current readers will really grasp the feeling of the late 1960s? More than that how many will be able to grasp how well known...or even who Bob Hope was. I suspect that while older readers (like me) will see Hope right away younger readers will only see Koo Davis a comic who entertains troops while holding a golf club.
I recommend this one. The "journey" that Koo and his captors take, the (may I reuse a word here?) melancholy ending are very well done. The is "almost" a 5...I'd say 4.5.
By the way there is a sort twist that may or may not add to the novel. I'm a little ambivalent about it as it does veer the character away from the actual Hope some. That said...not too far I'm afraid. See what you think.
Highly recommended.
July 30, 2018
Not the best Donald E. Westlake that I've read but it's better than any of the thrillers currently being published by the prolific genre writers and scoring massive advances for their next novels.
This is a very funny, very poignant, highly suspenseful novel about a beloved American comedian known for his cornball movies, his USO tours during World War II, The Korean War, and Vietnam as well as his quarterly TV specials (think Bob Hope) named Koo Davis who is kidnapped by a gang of wanna-be 60s radicals.
People die in this book. Treachery abounds. Violence lunges unexpectedly at the turn of a random page.
For Donald E. Westlake fans, this is a must-own/must-read.
For Harlan Coben or John Sandford fans ...maybe try some of Westlake's other stand alones first.
Brilliant writing - amazingly realistic dialogue.
And very funny.
This is a very funny, very poignant, highly suspenseful novel about a beloved American comedian known for his cornball movies, his USO tours during World War II, The Korean War, and Vietnam as well as his quarterly TV specials (think Bob Hope) named Koo Davis who is kidnapped by a gang of wanna-be 60s radicals.
People die in this book. Treachery abounds. Violence lunges unexpectedly at the turn of a random page.
For Donald E. Westlake fans, this is a must-own/must-read.
For Harlan Coben or John Sandford fans ...maybe try some of Westlake's other stand alones first.
Brilliant writing - amazingly realistic dialogue.
And very funny.
June 13, 2023
A Bob Hope comedian who went on USO tours during the Vietnam War is kidnapped by a bunch of hippies.
It's all about the Vietnam War and the generation gap. Definitely a time capsule. Attitudes have definitely changed.
It's all about the Vietnam War and the generation gap. Definitely a time capsule. Attitudes have definitely changed.
August 28, 2012
I’m usually open to reading anything by an author who I have sampled and enjoyed. (Heck, I’ll even read an author that I’m not thrilled by if it’s the only thing made of ink & paper around!)
This is a book that sat buried in a basement for decades. The fact that a friend had a carbon copy from the author is the only reason it saw a printing press. It is a very dated book, but that’s okay since it was contemporaneous when written. While the impact of some of the rationales may have been diluted, I saw more as a history of the times than a fatal flaw.
The title character is a clown. A boor. A not-very-nice person (you can use an ethnic or non-ethnic term, here. Although a Gentile, I prefer “schmuck”.)
I kept imagining Krusty the Klown: in reality he’s more 20% Bob Hope + 30% Sid Ceasar + 50% mind-numbing, intelligence robbing lint. With green hair.
Its clearly not one of his best works, but it was only buried because another story (of very similar title and plot) saw the light of day, first. (It was a movie that I’ve never seen.) I think that had this been read back when it was more timely the parts of the story that seem to be tedious would hold our interest better. Despite this handicap, the writing is good, there is passion in the characters, and in the end we wonder what will happen to whom.
A good three starts, but just three.
This is a book that sat buried in a basement for decades. The fact that a friend had a carbon copy from the author is the only reason it saw a printing press. It is a very dated book, but that’s okay since it was contemporaneous when written. While the impact of some of the rationales may have been diluted, I saw more as a history of the times than a fatal flaw.
The title character is a clown. A boor. A not-very-nice person (you can use an ethnic or non-ethnic term, here. Although a Gentile, I prefer “schmuck”.)
I kept imagining Krusty the Klown: in reality he’s more 20% Bob Hope + 30% Sid Ceasar + 50% mind-numbing, intelligence robbing lint. With green hair.
Its clearly not one of his best works, but it was only buried because another story (of very similar title and plot) saw the light of day, first. (It was a movie that I’ve never seen.) I think that had this been read back when it was more timely the parts of the story that seem to be tedious would hold our interest better. Despite this handicap, the writing is good, there is passion in the characters, and in the end we wonder what will happen to whom.
A good three starts, but just three.
October 21, 2024
Well I finally gave up on this one. It started out really good but towards the end I really got bored, just a little bit tired of the never ending. Can’t say I would recommend it to any of my friends, 2 stars is in my opinion is giving it 2 more than it reserves.
July 4, 2012
I'm a big Donald Westlake/Richard Stark fan. This posthumously published novel is set in the post-Watergate 1970s. A political cult of young folks kidnaps a famous comedian and demands the release of political radicals from the U.S. prisons. However, the political radicals are a hodge-podge bunch chosen at random. Odd. The comedian tosses off glib one-liner, but he soon reveals a painful, serious side. I don't know if the narrative would appeal to those readers who didn't live through Watergate and that time period. Off-center, funny, and just plain weird. I liked reading it.
September 22, 2019
One of the best Westlake novels I have read (which which includes the Parker novels, in my opinion) A comedian kidnapped by a radical socialist group. Loved the tension, loved the characters, and the ending maintained a level of intense atmosphere that the story created.
July 6, 2017
“The Comedy is Finished” is Westlake’s final masterpiece. It is an incredibly well-crafted tale that stitches together storylines about fame and fortune, kidnapping, the end of the sixties, and the loss of ideals. It is a stupendous work and it is a novel that thoroughly transcends the world of crime fiction. That being said, I must concede that the first time I tried reading it I found it dull and pointless. This one was clearly worth a second try.
It is the story of a man, a comedian, Koo Davis, well-known for his USO tours to Korea and Vietnam. He is a symbol of American patriotism and flag-waving and the like. His personal life, however, consists of numerous affairs with whatever blonde dancers accompanied his tours of duty, a female manager whose relationship with him was closer to him than that of his wife, who he rarely saw, and little connection to his sons as well, whose careers had carried them on different paths than his.
Davis runs into a bit of trouble when a group of ex- sixties radicals akin the Weatherman or Patty Hearst’s SLA decide to kidnap the symbol of All-American patriotism and hold him as a political prisoner, demanding the release of ten so-called political prisoners who they want flown to Algeria. Just as Davis’ life has wound down over the years, becoming an empty caricature of what it once was, these radicals in this post-Watergate late seventies world are a caricature of the free love/end war hippies of the sixties who had degenerated over time into nutty bands of anti-government radicals who repeated stock phrases and hated the capitalistic world, envisioning something, anything, better.
It is a story, not just a crime fiction tale, of the general moods of our society during the turbulent seventies as idealism crashed and burned and morphed into things that Sgt. Pepper would barely understand.
As mentioned previously, it can be, for some, a difficult novel to begin as it is wildly unlike most of what Hard Case Crime publishes. It is not hardboiled detective fiction. Nor does it have much in the way of a noir feel to it. Nevertheless, it is an excellent novel and truly worth a read.
It is the story of a man, a comedian, Koo Davis, well-known for his USO tours to Korea and Vietnam. He is a symbol of American patriotism and flag-waving and the like. His personal life, however, consists of numerous affairs with whatever blonde dancers accompanied his tours of duty, a female manager whose relationship with him was closer to him than that of his wife, who he rarely saw, and little connection to his sons as well, whose careers had carried them on different paths than his.
Davis runs into a bit of trouble when a group of ex- sixties radicals akin the Weatherman or Patty Hearst’s SLA decide to kidnap the symbol of All-American patriotism and hold him as a political prisoner, demanding the release of ten so-called political prisoners who they want flown to Algeria. Just as Davis’ life has wound down over the years, becoming an empty caricature of what it once was, these radicals in this post-Watergate late seventies world are a caricature of the free love/end war hippies of the sixties who had degenerated over time into nutty bands of anti-government radicals who repeated stock phrases and hated the capitalistic world, envisioning something, anything, better.
It is a story, not just a crime fiction tale, of the general moods of our society during the turbulent seventies as idealism crashed and burned and morphed into things that Sgt. Pepper would barely understand.
As mentioned previously, it can be, for some, a difficult novel to begin as it is wildly unlike most of what Hard Case Crime publishes. It is not hardboiled detective fiction. Nor does it have much in the way of a noir feel to it. Nevertheless, it is an excellent novel and truly worth a read.
June 1, 2013
So a bunch of radical nutjob hippies kidnap famous comedian Koo Davis in exchange for the release of "political" prisoners. But let me ask you, who's the real victim here? Koo or the poor schmucks that have to sit around listening to his jokes? Talk about a "captive audience!" Amirite?
*Chirp, chirp, chirp.*
So what's the deal with Ovaltine? The jar is round. They oughtta call it "Roundtine."
Hey, *taptaptap* is this thing on?
Okay, so, clearly, I'm not a comedian. If I were I'd probably be a murder victim instead of a kidnap victim, which is Koo Davis' predicament in Donald Westlake's The Comedy is Finished. Koo is one of those old-school comedians, the kind that does USO tours and Christmas TV specials, goofball movies and fools around with buxom female celebrities. He's been in the business for years and he never thought that one day a group of SLA/Weathermen-type remnants would nab him and demand the release of political prisoners. After all, this is the late '70s, man. The disco era, not the Che Guevara era. Nevertheless, this is the situation in which Koo finds himself. The question is, then, whether or not Koo can keep his sense of humor when his audience is clearly hostile.
I have to admit that I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to Donald Westlake. I'm a fan of his Parker novels written under the pseudonym of Richard Stark, but this is the first that I've read under his own name. This one is a bit of an anomaly, being published posthumously thirty years after it was written. Like a lot of "lost" novels, The Comedy is Finished seems a bit rough, even without prior experience of his non-Parker stuff. It seems rushed in some places, slow in others, and somewhat thematically inconsistent. But these themes, although underdeveloped, are what push this lost novel into something more than simply a decent crime read for me.
Politics feature prominently in The Comedy is Finished. Koo regrets his recent use of politics in his comedy routine, thinking that is what has pissed off the terrorists. But we also see that Koo is a product of Cold War politics, as are the kidnappers and Mike Wiskiel, the FBI agent in charge of getting Koo back safely. Particularly interesting to me is the Korean angle, since during the period in which this story was written South Korean politics was in turmoil. While I have no idea if Westlake was aware of the events in South Korea at the time, the mention of the Korean conflict was a timely coincidence.
Secondly, and probably more significantly, Koo's reflection on his own life as an aging comedian, mostly his regrets and disappointments and how they work into his current situation, is really what The Comedy is Finished is all about. While the narrative alternates between the various characters involved (and, interestingly, all are written in past tense but Koo's narrative is written in present tense), the story is really about an old man who is now reevaluating his measure of success.
As I mentioned, though, those ideas are somewhat underdeveloped. Westlake's prose is characteristically clean, with only a couple of excursions in plot (I'm thinking of the very explicit sex scenes-- I'm not being a prude, I'm just not sure they added to the story). While this is a story about a comedian, it's not at all funny, and neither are Koo's jokes, actually (he's more of a mildly humorous zinger kind of guy, I guess). But all in all and despite its shortcomings, The Comedy is Finished is a worthy conclusion to Westlake's canon. And since Westlake is my new book hero, I gotta round this one up to four stars.
And that's it for me, ladies and germs! You've been a great audience! I'll be here all week!
*Chirp, chirp, chirp.*
So what's the deal with Ovaltine? The jar is round. They oughtta call it "Roundtine."
Hey, *taptaptap* is this thing on?
Okay, so, clearly, I'm not a comedian. If I were I'd probably be a murder victim instead of a kidnap victim, which is Koo Davis' predicament in Donald Westlake's The Comedy is Finished. Koo is one of those old-school comedians, the kind that does USO tours and Christmas TV specials, goofball movies and fools around with buxom female celebrities. He's been in the business for years and he never thought that one day a group of SLA/Weathermen-type remnants would nab him and demand the release of political prisoners. After all, this is the late '70s, man. The disco era, not the Che Guevara era. Nevertheless, this is the situation in which Koo finds himself. The question is, then, whether or not Koo can keep his sense of humor when his audience is clearly hostile.
I have to admit that I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to Donald Westlake. I'm a fan of his Parker novels written under the pseudonym of Richard Stark, but this is the first that I've read under his own name. This one is a bit of an anomaly, being published posthumously thirty years after it was written. Like a lot of "lost" novels, The Comedy is Finished seems a bit rough, even without prior experience of his non-Parker stuff. It seems rushed in some places, slow in others, and somewhat thematically inconsistent. But these themes, although underdeveloped, are what push this lost novel into something more than simply a decent crime read for me.
Politics feature prominently in The Comedy is Finished. Koo regrets his recent use of politics in his comedy routine, thinking that is what has pissed off the terrorists. But we also see that Koo is a product of Cold War politics, as are the kidnappers and Mike Wiskiel, the FBI agent in charge of getting Koo back safely. Particularly interesting to me is the Korean angle, since during the period in which this story was written South Korean politics was in turmoil. While I have no idea if Westlake was aware of the events in South Korea at the time, the mention of the Korean conflict was a timely coincidence.
Secondly, and probably more significantly, Koo's reflection on his own life as an aging comedian, mostly his regrets and disappointments and how they work into his current situation, is really what The Comedy is Finished is all about. While the narrative alternates between the various characters involved (and, interestingly, all are written in past tense but Koo's narrative is written in present tense), the story is really about an old man who is now reevaluating his measure of success.
As I mentioned, though, those ideas are somewhat underdeveloped. Westlake's prose is characteristically clean, with only a couple of excursions in plot (I'm thinking of the very explicit sex scenes-- I'm not being a prude, I'm just not sure they added to the story). While this is a story about a comedian, it's not at all funny, and neither are Koo's jokes, actually (he's more of a mildly humorous zinger kind of guy, I guess). But all in all and despite its shortcomings, The Comedy is Finished is a worthy conclusion to Westlake's canon. And since Westlake is my new book hero, I gotta round this one up to four stars.
And that's it for me, ladies and germs! You've been a great audience! I'll be here all week!
March 26, 2015
Koo Davis is a comedian past his prime. Having lived a lavish life performing across the country and providing light relief to the American army during wartime, he now finds himself in the hands of a band of criminals who are using him as a pawn to free ten imprisoned activists.
Set in 1977, THE COMEDY IS FINISHED is a period piece that is very much a product of its time. The political landscape is at the forefront, and socialist viewpoints and present day issues are littered throughout the narrative to provide a true sense of time and place. Given Westlake wrote the book in the 1970's, you'd expect it to contain much of what was prevalent during that time in American history - and it does.
The plot revolves around the kidnapping of Koo and the FBI's intervention in trying to get him back in one piece without having to free the prisoners or cater to the kidnappers other demands too willingly.
The writing focuses on all key parties; Koo, his history and current predicament, the law enforcement agencies, and the kidnappers themselves. This allows for the reader to develop a well rounded appreciation of the situation and what the outcome means to the characters. My only gripe is that I wanted Liz, the naked and crazy torturer to play a bigger part. Westlake wrote a real winner in her and I feel she was somewhat underdeveloped - it's a minor gripe that doesn't impact the story.
THE COMEDY IS FINISHED is also not without a twist or two which leads to nice little revelations that provide further context to the story. Readers of Richard Stark's Parker series will see some common elements in the writing; namely the ability to craft a group of characters and make them all have a purpose in the book.
Overall, THE COMEDY IS FINISHED is one of the more enjoyable Westalke books published by Hardcase Crime. I highly recommend it.
Review first appeared on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
Set in 1977, THE COMEDY IS FINISHED is a period piece that is very much a product of its time. The political landscape is at the forefront, and socialist viewpoints and present day issues are littered throughout the narrative to provide a true sense of time and place. Given Westlake wrote the book in the 1970's, you'd expect it to contain much of what was prevalent during that time in American history - and it does.
The plot revolves around the kidnapping of Koo and the FBI's intervention in trying to get him back in one piece without having to free the prisoners or cater to the kidnappers other demands too willingly.
The writing focuses on all key parties; Koo, his history and current predicament, the law enforcement agencies, and the kidnappers themselves. This allows for the reader to develop a well rounded appreciation of the situation and what the outcome means to the characters. My only gripe is that I wanted Liz, the naked and crazy torturer to play a bigger part. Westlake wrote a real winner in her and I feel she was somewhat underdeveloped - it's a minor gripe that doesn't impact the story.
THE COMEDY IS FINISHED is also not without a twist or two which leads to nice little revelations that provide further context to the story. Readers of Richard Stark's Parker series will see some common elements in the writing; namely the ability to craft a group of characters and make them all have a purpose in the book.
Overall, THE COMEDY IS FINISHED is one of the more enjoyable Westalke books published by Hardcase Crime. I highly recommend it.
Review first appeared on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
April 12, 2017
Look past the titillating come-on of the cover art and The Comedy Is Finished is an entertaining and occasionally insightful romp through the post-Vietnam ‘70s era.
The plot is straightforward: famous comedian Koo Davis finds himself kidnapped by the remnants of a domestic “revolutionary” movement that’s more or less died out by the late ‘70s. A ragtag group hopes to use Koo to score some propaganda points. Taking lead on the case is a functionally alcoholic FBI agent who’d been exiled from Washington for his involvement in Watergate. He’s desperate to return to the seat of power and thinks the high profile kidnapping could be his return ticket to the big time. Koo’s worried agent and distant family enter the mix and no one’s plans work out as they expect.
Hardboiled crime fiction maestro Donald E. Westlake crafted an intriguing brew of colorful personalities for this caper. Koo, admittedly not really that great a person, still managed to be a sympathetic pivot for the caper. He anchored a shifting cascade of personalities that Westlake crafted and deployed with insidious precision. While a couple of the big twists won’t be that much of a shock to experienced genre readers, Westlake managed to throw some agreeable curveballs at various points. The action moved briskly and the dialogue was sharp, peppered with a lot of acidic verbal slashes.
But even more than the story itself, The Comedy Is Finished is notable for Westlake’s brutally effective dissection of America at a late ‘70s crossroads. After Watergate and Vietnam, the country was trying to shrug off an identity crisis and figure out a way forward. Westlake captured that sense of displacement, from folks across the political spectrum, and exploited it for all it was worth. He was unsparing in many ways, yet somehow whipped up a warped approximation of a happy(ish) ending to keep readers off-balance to the very end.
There are a few graphic passages that might not suit every sensibility. But for any fans interested in exploring harder edged period crime fiction, it’s worth a look.
The plot is straightforward: famous comedian Koo Davis finds himself kidnapped by the remnants of a domestic “revolutionary” movement that’s more or less died out by the late ‘70s. A ragtag group hopes to use Koo to score some propaganda points. Taking lead on the case is a functionally alcoholic FBI agent who’d been exiled from Washington for his involvement in Watergate. He’s desperate to return to the seat of power and thinks the high profile kidnapping could be his return ticket to the big time. Koo’s worried agent and distant family enter the mix and no one’s plans work out as they expect.
Hardboiled crime fiction maestro Donald E. Westlake crafted an intriguing brew of colorful personalities for this caper. Koo, admittedly not really that great a person, still managed to be a sympathetic pivot for the caper. He anchored a shifting cascade of personalities that Westlake crafted and deployed with insidious precision. While a couple of the big twists won’t be that much of a shock to experienced genre readers, Westlake managed to throw some agreeable curveballs at various points. The action moved briskly and the dialogue was sharp, peppered with a lot of acidic verbal slashes.
But even more than the story itself, The Comedy Is Finished is notable for Westlake’s brutally effective dissection of America at a late ‘70s crossroads. After Watergate and Vietnam, the country was trying to shrug off an identity crisis and figure out a way forward. Westlake captured that sense of displacement, from folks across the political spectrum, and exploited it for all it was worth. He was unsparing in many ways, yet somehow whipped up a warped approximation of a happy(ish) ending to keep readers off-balance to the very end.
There are a few graphic passages that might not suit every sensibility. But for any fans interested in exploring harder edged period crime fiction, it’s worth a look.
December 26, 2016
We can thank Max Allan Collins, the patron saint of lost manuscripts, for unearthing The Comedy Is Finished. Apparently Donald Westlake wrote the book in the seventies and then decided not to publish it, but later corresponded with Collins and sent him a copy. Fast forward several decades later and voila! An unpublished novel sees the light of day. I've never been a big fan of Westlake, but will readily admit maybe I missed the boat. This novel is a 1000% better than most posthumous novels, and inarguably Westlake could write. Yes certainly The Comedy Is Finished is a child of it's time but there is nothing wrong with that and the book hangs together really well.
July 7, 2017
This was the second of Westlake's posthumously-published novels I've read and both were pretty good. This is is an interesting period piece written almost as though from the vantage point thirty-years hence and meant to evoke a feel of the late 70s, but doesn't appear dated. The main character of Koo Davis, the kidnapped comedian, is the most three-dimensional character I've run across in all that I've read of Westlake's.
February 5, 2020
I've been all about vintage crime fiction this year, and my rediscovery of Donald E. Westlake has been kind of a thrill. The previous book I finished, Westlake's Memory, was very good, very involved, and absolutely not a crime novel. This one is, and I'm going to go ahead and agree with the copy on the front of the book: this is Westlake's great final novel.
The premise is this: what if, in the early 1970s, the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Bob Hope in exchange for the release of political prisoners? Now, I don't know all that much about the left-wing rebel factions that cropped up during the sixties. I know they felt that their voice needed to be heard, and I know they were passionate about revolution at any cost. Any cost sometimes meant killing. Any cost sometimes meant dying. And it's no mistake that the Bob Hope analogue is named Koo.
But what this particular group of militants discover, like so many characters in so many novels I read written by Baby Boomers, is that the sixties eventually ended. Revolution stopped being popular. And what they have done is kidnap a beloved American comedy institution - something of a symbol of the previous generation's hopes and dreams - and attempt to pit his life against an apathetic new era they don't understand.
Honestly, though, it's not as political as all that. The premise is political, but the story is very human. We learn all about Koo Davis's checkered past. We meet his sort-of ex-wife, the sons he can't connect with, his worried agent. We live in the world of the FBI agent in charge of bringing Koo back alive. And we dig into the internal lives of the revolutionaries ... especially Mark, the deranged psychopath who has a pretty obvious secret that shoots off in astoundingly un-obvious ways.
Westlake moves his plot quickly, forcing it to slow down by introducing multiple viewpoints (and cleverly putting Koo Davis' point of view in present tense, heightening the sense of immediacy). You end up understanding almost everyone this way, if not always liking them (especially Peter, who seems like a minor character at the start of the book and becomes a major pain in the ass). And like Davis, you kind of understand the terrorists' rhetoric, but you can't like that, either, because none of it justifies their actions.
What we come away with, I think, is that some characters discover only too late that their worldview isn't a worldview after all, and that they really only care about themselves. And some characters kind of come to the opposite conclusion.
I liked it a lot. Let's find more Westlake.
The premise is this: what if, in the early 1970s, the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Bob Hope in exchange for the release of political prisoners? Now, I don't know all that much about the left-wing rebel factions that cropped up during the sixties. I know they felt that their voice needed to be heard, and I know they were passionate about revolution at any cost. Any cost sometimes meant killing. Any cost sometimes meant dying. And it's no mistake that the Bob Hope analogue is named Koo.
But what this particular group of militants discover, like so many characters in so many novels I read written by Baby Boomers, is that the sixties eventually ended. Revolution stopped being popular. And what they have done is kidnap a beloved American comedy institution - something of a symbol of the previous generation's hopes and dreams - and attempt to pit his life against an apathetic new era they don't understand.
Honestly, though, it's not as political as all that. The premise is political, but the story is very human. We learn all about Koo Davis's checkered past. We meet his sort-of ex-wife, the sons he can't connect with, his worried agent. We live in the world of the FBI agent in charge of bringing Koo back alive. And we dig into the internal lives of the revolutionaries ... especially Mark, the deranged psychopath who has a pretty obvious secret that shoots off in astoundingly un-obvious ways.
Westlake moves his plot quickly, forcing it to slow down by introducing multiple viewpoints (and cleverly putting Koo Davis' point of view in present tense, heightening the sense of immediacy). You end up understanding almost everyone this way, if not always liking them (especially Peter, who seems like a minor character at the start of the book and becomes a major pain in the ass). And like Davis, you kind of understand the terrorists' rhetoric, but you can't like that, either, because none of it justifies their actions.
What we come away with, I think, is that some characters discover only too late that their worldview isn't a worldview after all, and that they really only care about themselves. And some characters kind of come to the opposite conclusion.
I liked it a lot. Let's find more Westlake.
November 30, 2021
Aging comedian Koo Davis is taken captive by a collective known as People’s Revolution Army. Their demands? Have the US Government release ten inmates and provide them with safe passage to Algeria. The alternative? Koo dies.
I have a pile of Hard Case Crime novels sitting on my bookcase that I’ve yet to work my my through. With the year winding down and the weather getting chillier, I thought what better time to hunker down inside with a few crime classics than November (or Noir-vember?).
When my partner saw me reading this one, she said, “another Westlake? You must be a big fan of his.” And I thought, “Am I?” I have read quite of bit of his work over the years but I can’t remember going out of my way to get any of his books. Hard Case Crime has published a lot of his lost work, so I just happen to end up with a few Westlake books in my hands a few times a year.
The Comedy Is Finished was an alright read. It didn’t blow me away but given that Westlake had shelved it himself and did not get around to publishing it, maybe that makes sense. There are a few gruesome, blood-splattered pages and a fair amount of smut, so it fits right in with Hard Case’s “strict” criteria.
I will say that Westlake kept me guessing up to the end as to just how the criminals would either get away with it or if Koo Davis would escape with his life. There were a lot of twists and turns that helped keep me up late for a few nights (just one more chapter, etc). However, this one pretty much left my mind as quickly as it entered.
Not much stuck and maybe that’s because, aside from Koo Davis, many of these characters felt flat. I didn’t get the sense the kidnappers had ever really gotten along at any point given that there had been infighting from the beginning of the novel, and Koo Davis, the guy that the government has been trying to rescue, came across as a real prick.
Even an “OK” experience with a Hard Case Crime novel is better than most non-series whodunnits. 3 stars.
I have a pile of Hard Case Crime novels sitting on my bookcase that I’ve yet to work my my through. With the year winding down and the weather getting chillier, I thought what better time to hunker down inside with a few crime classics than November (or Noir-vember?).
When my partner saw me reading this one, she said, “another Westlake? You must be a big fan of his.” And I thought, “Am I?” I have read quite of bit of his work over the years but I can’t remember going out of my way to get any of his books. Hard Case Crime has published a lot of his lost work, so I just happen to end up with a few Westlake books in my hands a few times a year.
The Comedy Is Finished was an alright read. It didn’t blow me away but given that Westlake had shelved it himself and did not get around to publishing it, maybe that makes sense. There are a few gruesome, blood-splattered pages and a fair amount of smut, so it fits right in with Hard Case’s “strict” criteria.
I will say that Westlake kept me guessing up to the end as to just how the criminals would either get away with it or if Koo Davis would escape with his life. There were a lot of twists and turns that helped keep me up late for a few nights (just one more chapter, etc). However, this one pretty much left my mind as quickly as it entered.
Not much stuck and maybe that’s because, aside from Koo Davis, many of these characters felt flat. I didn’t get the sense the kidnappers had ever really gotten along at any point given that there had been infighting from the beginning of the novel, and Koo Davis, the guy that the government has been trying to rescue, came across as a real prick.
Even an “OK” experience with a Hard Case Crime novel is better than most non-series whodunnits. 3 stars.
August 3, 2018
I am familiar with Donald Westlake, but had never read any of his work until I spotted this one at my branch library. I'm shallow, I know, but the tawdry cover drew me in. I figured it was an exaggeration. of course, but no. It's true to the novel.
I stayed until after 5 AM reading it straight through. What can I say? A mediation on politics, celebrity, obsession, and redemption. Koo Davis is clearly based on Bob Hope, but after awhile I began to picture him as looking like Jonathan Winters. For some reason Mark morphed into a young George Clooney. Like I said, I'm shallow.
Anyway, some reviewers is the novel say it is dated (though it is understood it was written contemporaneously and that\;;s OK). I read it as an historical piece. I was there, and I remember it. And there are till people running around who are very close to The People's Revolutionary Army and also in the "alt rights , now going the other direction.
I stayed until after 5 AM reading it straight through. What can I say? A mediation on politics, celebrity, obsession, and redemption. Koo Davis is clearly based on Bob Hope, but after awhile I began to picture him as looking like Jonathan Winters. For some reason Mark morphed into a young George Clooney. Like I said, I'm shallow.
Anyway, some reviewers is the novel say it is dated (though it is understood it was written contemporaneously and that\;;s OK). I read it as an historical piece. I was there, and I remember it. And there are till people running around who are very close to The People's Revolutionary Army and also in the "alt rights , now going the other direction.
July 24, 2019
Written in the early 80s but withheld from publication after Westlake worried that the plot - the kidnapping of a famous comedian in the Bob Hope mould - was too reminiscent of Scorsese’s ‘The King of Comedy’ (it isn’t: tone, structure and subtext are all very different), the manuscript came to light after his death courtesy of a copy held by friend and fellow crime writer Max Allan Collins. Hence the Hard Case Crime imprint with its irresistibly lurid cover: one of three posthumous Westlake novels the press have now issued. And - apart from a slightly awkward last page or two - it’s one hell of a read, effortlessly melding political satire, police procedural thrilleramics, tense set pieces and often surprising character-driven moments. It also captures the wonky, hazy feel of the 70s like a waking dream.
March 20, 2021
This one is considered a "lost" novel by the grand master of mystery novels. Unfortunately, for Westlake, Martin Scorcese directed a film with a similar plot and Westlake felt that readers would assume he had stolen the idea of a group of nuts kidnapping a famous comedienne. So the novel got shelved-- somehow in the hands of Max Alan Collins, who would later publish a great deal of his own material. Permission was given by the Westlake estate and now it is no longer a lost novel.
This was a real change of pace for Westlake. A group of radicals kidnap a T.V. star who is semi-modeled after Bob Hope. Set in 1977, these former hippies have, much like an aging gunfighter, living in the past. They get a rude awakening that others have moved on, leaving behind the violence, if not the ideals, of the movement. They ask for ten prisoners to be released and flown to Algiers.
The novel explores a lot of themes as it moves through the resolution. The comic is forced to reexamine his attitudes towards life. And as he rethinks his attitudes and past actions, he is confronted with a past wrong he wasn't even really aware of. Meanwhile, even as the radicals seek to outwit the FBI, they also are forced to look at how the world has changed and to admit that they haven't changed with it.
The machinations of the law as they seek to rescue the comic are clever and realistic. The characters have depth, they are more than a paper caricature. It is a good story and the radical\hippy types all have enough unique qualities to be interesting.
It isn't Westlake at his best, but it is good stuff.
This was a real change of pace for Westlake. A group of radicals kidnap a T.V. star who is semi-modeled after Bob Hope. Set in 1977, these former hippies have, much like an aging gunfighter, living in the past. They get a rude awakening that others have moved on, leaving behind the violence, if not the ideals, of the movement. They ask for ten prisoners to be released and flown to Algiers.
The novel explores a lot of themes as it moves through the resolution. The comic is forced to reexamine his attitudes towards life. And as he rethinks his attitudes and past actions, he is confronted with a past wrong he wasn't even really aware of. Meanwhile, even as the radicals seek to outwit the FBI, they also are forced to look at how the world has changed and to admit that they haven't changed with it.
The machinations of the law as they seek to rescue the comic are clever and realistic. The characters have depth, they are more than a paper caricature. It is a good story and the radical\hippy types all have enough unique qualities to be interesting.
It isn't Westlake at his best, but it is good stuff.
December 2, 2025
An amazing story from Westlake. It is a great noir in the vein of "The King of Comedy." While a lot of fun and very tense, it also successfully looked at what war, humor, love, self-deception, counter culture and the changing of society. Quite a lot for a short book!
July 28, 2022
1.5 stars. File this under there's a reason this wasn't published when the author was alive. It wasn't very good and I wound up skimming through the 2nd half even though I didn't really care how it was going to end.
September 15, 2018
Donald E. Westlake's The Comedy is Finished has an interesting publication history. When Martin Scorsese's film The King of Comedy was released, the author withheld it from publication, thinking that people would think he was plagiarizing the film. Actually he wasn't: He was writing about that period of radicalism that gave birth to the Weathermen, the Black Panthers, and the Symbionese Liberation Army.
Although I liked the book, I have problems with that brief period of leftist radicalism -- partly because it was so tone deaf to the way that most Americans, including myself, thought. It was partially responsible for the rise of American conservatism that gave us our current embarrassment of a president.
I would not have finished the book if Westlake had not so deftly sketched the disunity of the terrorists who kidnap the comic Koo Davis (who resembles a cross between Bob Hope and Don Rickles).
Although I liked the book, I have problems with that brief period of leftist radicalism -- partly because it was so tone deaf to the way that most Americans, including myself, thought. It was partially responsible for the rise of American conservatism that gave us our current embarrassment of a president.
I would not have finished the book if Westlake had not so deftly sketched the disunity of the terrorists who kidnap the comic Koo Davis (who resembles a cross between Bob Hope and Don Rickles).
February 27, 2012
Finished it today and giving it to a friend tonite
I'll write up my interview with the editor who put the book together and get it published in the next few days
Received this today - interviewed the editor who worked on the book for the publisher and will put together a full article with review by me and book excerpt when i finish this book
This is the never-before-published lost Westlake novel and the first new Westlake since 2010's Memory, and most likely the last new Westlake we'll ever have the pleasure of reading.
It's a book I know a lot of people will be interested in, and we appreciate anything you might do to let people know about it.
Library Journal:
The late Westlake began this book towards the end of the 1970s but ultimately shelved it partially because he felt the premise too closely mimicked Martin Scorsese’s film The King of Comedy. He nonetheless sent a copy to his friend Max Allan Collins, who recently informed Hard Case of its existence (go Max!). Set in 1977, the plot follows the kidnapping of superstar entertainer Koo Davis (a thinly veiled Bob Hope) by the People’s Revolutionary Army, a handful of leftover ‘60s radicals, demanding the release of ten political prisoners. Readers wouldn’t necessarily peg Westlake for a gag writer, but Koo delivers a lively string of Hope-esque zingers throughout. While the kidnappers want to use Koo to free incarcerated friends, Mike Wiskiel, the Watergate-disgraced FBI agent leading the investigation, also hopes to use the case to springboard himself back to Washington. VERDICT The characters are well drawn, the dialog flows, and the chapters speed by, making for a breezy, solid read. This late discovery is a welcomed treat for Westlake’s many fans. A natural for all mystery collections.
Publisher's Weekly:
"MWA Grand Master Westlake (1933–2008) shows his skill and versatility as an author in this posthumous crime novel. In 1977, the radical fervor that grew through the 1960s and early 1970s, fueled by the struggle for civil rights and the Vietnam War, has largely subsided, but a small group seeks to reignite passions by kidnapping comedian Koo Davis, known for his longstanding USO tours during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam in support of the troops. The snatch is perfectly planned and executed, but things soon start to fall apart for the bewildered Koo, the kidnappers, and the FBI agent leading the investigation, who hopes success will remove the taint his reputation suffered because of Watergate. Westlake provides a probing analysis of the kidnappers’ various and sometimes vague motivations, including their demands for the release of 10 'political' prisoners. Sharply written and insightful, this 'lost' novel is a worthy addition to Westlake’s lengthy catalogue."
Booklist:
It’s 1977. The Vietnam War and Watergate are very recent history. Comedian Koo Davis, however, continues to do what he’s been doing for four decades: tell jokes. But just before the taping of his TV
special, Koo is kidnapped by the “People’s Revolutionary Army.” The kidnappers demand that 10 imprisoned radicals be given safe passage out of the U.S. in return for Koo. The Comedy Is Finished is a tense, compelling story of captive, captors, and an FBI agent, but it’s also a painfully insightful portrait of a very dark period in U.S. history. All the main characters’ lives have been affected by the war or Watergate, and Westlake, who wrote the novel in the late 1970s, gives each plenty of opportunity to lament what happened to them and relive some of this country’s darkest years. It’s very different from Westlake’s beloved comic crime capers, and although readers old enough to remember those years may find the memories dredged up to be unpleasant, they will probably be hard-pressed to put the book down.
I'll write up my interview with the editor who put the book together and get it published in the next few days
Received this today - interviewed the editor who worked on the book for the publisher and will put together a full article with review by me and book excerpt when i finish this book
This is the never-before-published lost Westlake novel and the first new Westlake since 2010's Memory, and most likely the last new Westlake we'll ever have the pleasure of reading.
It's a book I know a lot of people will be interested in, and we appreciate anything you might do to let people know about it.
Library Journal:
The late Westlake began this book towards the end of the 1970s but ultimately shelved it partially because he felt the premise too closely mimicked Martin Scorsese’s film The King of Comedy. He nonetheless sent a copy to his friend Max Allan Collins, who recently informed Hard Case of its existence (go Max!). Set in 1977, the plot follows the kidnapping of superstar entertainer Koo Davis (a thinly veiled Bob Hope) by the People’s Revolutionary Army, a handful of leftover ‘60s radicals, demanding the release of ten political prisoners. Readers wouldn’t necessarily peg Westlake for a gag writer, but Koo delivers a lively string of Hope-esque zingers throughout. While the kidnappers want to use Koo to free incarcerated friends, Mike Wiskiel, the Watergate-disgraced FBI agent leading the investigation, also hopes to use the case to springboard himself back to Washington. VERDICT The characters are well drawn, the dialog flows, and the chapters speed by, making for a breezy, solid read. This late discovery is a welcomed treat for Westlake’s many fans. A natural for all mystery collections.
Publisher's Weekly:
"MWA Grand Master Westlake (1933–2008) shows his skill and versatility as an author in this posthumous crime novel. In 1977, the radical fervor that grew through the 1960s and early 1970s, fueled by the struggle for civil rights and the Vietnam War, has largely subsided, but a small group seeks to reignite passions by kidnapping comedian Koo Davis, known for his longstanding USO tours during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam in support of the troops. The snatch is perfectly planned and executed, but things soon start to fall apart for the bewildered Koo, the kidnappers, and the FBI agent leading the investigation, who hopes success will remove the taint his reputation suffered because of Watergate. Westlake provides a probing analysis of the kidnappers’ various and sometimes vague motivations, including their demands for the release of 10 'political' prisoners. Sharply written and insightful, this 'lost' novel is a worthy addition to Westlake’s lengthy catalogue."
Booklist:
It’s 1977. The Vietnam War and Watergate are very recent history. Comedian Koo Davis, however, continues to do what he’s been doing for four decades: tell jokes. But just before the taping of his TV
special, Koo is kidnapped by the “People’s Revolutionary Army.” The kidnappers demand that 10 imprisoned radicals be given safe passage out of the U.S. in return for Koo. The Comedy Is Finished is a tense, compelling story of captive, captors, and an FBI agent, but it’s also a painfully insightful portrait of a very dark period in U.S. history. All the main characters’ lives have been affected by the war or Watergate, and Westlake, who wrote the novel in the late 1970s, gives each plenty of opportunity to lament what happened to them and relive some of this country’s darkest years. It’s very different from Westlake’s beloved comic crime capers, and although readers old enough to remember those years may find the memories dredged up to be unpleasant, they will probably be hard-pressed to put the book down.
November 28, 2017
For Joyce, the group in the darkness around the flickering TV light was like some wonderful kind of camping out. In her childhood, in Racine, where the winters were so long and so cold, "camping out" had mostly meant what were known as "overnights": half a dozen giggling girls on mattresses or folded blankets on a living room floor, the host parents far away in their own part of the house, the girls clustering together like tiny delighted animals at the dry hidden warm bottom of the the world, whispering and shushing at one another, young small bodies in the nightgowns trembling with exhilaration.
Back in 2010, my wife and I went to Asheville, North Carolina, for a friend's wedding. While there, we ate at the Tupelo Honey cafe (highly recommended, btw): the food was great, but they had this rosemary peach lemonade. For whatever reason, in that moment, that place, that time, it was all I needed in the world. I could've drank pitchers of it without tiring of the flavor or feeling overfilled. It was perfect; it slaked a thirst I didn't even know I was enduring.
I really don't have a better way of explaining the joy of reading Westlake's writing. Sorry.
The two-sentence (!) paragraph I quoted is a rare flourish: for the most part, Westlake doesn't make a habit of "stepping out" like that, which serves to maximize the impact when he does. And even when he does, he manages to be supremely emotive without going "purple". Westlake sets moods and introduces characters with a total lack of extraneous detail or description (an example is our first look at Lynne, a fairly major character: A tall and fashionably dressed woman of forty-one, wearing many braclets).
Westlake's writing is remarkable, and this book is great: a fast-paced story that tangles mid 20th century politics, LA vibe, hippie culture, and the relationships between fathers, sons, and other broken people all together like a perfect breakfast plate. Stop reading me and start reading him. Right now.
Back in 2010, my wife and I went to Asheville, North Carolina, for a friend's wedding. While there, we ate at the Tupelo Honey cafe (highly recommended, btw): the food was great, but they had this rosemary peach lemonade. For whatever reason, in that moment, that place, that time, it was all I needed in the world. I could've drank pitchers of it without tiring of the flavor or feeling overfilled. It was perfect; it slaked a thirst I didn't even know I was enduring.
I really don't have a better way of explaining the joy of reading Westlake's writing. Sorry.
The two-sentence (!) paragraph I quoted is a rare flourish: for the most part, Westlake doesn't make a habit of "stepping out" like that, which serves to maximize the impact when he does. And even when he does, he manages to be supremely emotive without going "purple". Westlake sets moods and introduces characters with a total lack of extraneous detail or description (an example is our first look at Lynne, a fairly major character: A tall and fashionably dressed woman of forty-one, wearing many braclets).
Westlake's writing is remarkable, and this book is great: a fast-paced story that tangles mid 20th century politics, LA vibe, hippie culture, and the relationships between fathers, sons, and other broken people all together like a perfect breakfast plate. Stop reading me and start reading him. Right now.
April 13, 2015
I have read five Donald Westlake books and ironically my favorites were the ones published posthumously. THE COMEDY IS FINISHED is not quite the five-star masterpiece that MEMORY was, but it was still well-crafted and absorbing. The main character Koo Davis is an aging comedian, a thinly veiled version of Bob Hope in the late 1970’s, who is kidnapped by some leftover socialist radicals. Like the old Bob Hope movies, he tries to joke and quip his way through the ordeal, but as his outlook gets bleaker, he has to face up to the reality of failures in his life and confront his own mortality.
Each of the supporting characters gets a relatively small amount of “screen time”, but Westlake knows how to draw compelling realistic people and get the most out of them. The gang of kidnappers is fractured, nuanced, and balanced. There is an ambitious alcoholic FBI officer on the case, who is smart but not always wise; there is Davis’ agent, who may or may not harbor a secret love interest. This ensemble cast plays perfectly off one another with surprising results. In this sense, it reminded me of a really good Elmore Leonard novel, except in a Westlake novel everyone is smart instead of bumbling and incompetent.
It’s a funny book at times, much funnier than THE CUTIE or LEMONS NEVER LIE, but this is not another light caper like SOMEBODY OWES ME MONEY or GOD SAVE THE MARK. It’s a suspense story that slowly ratchets up the tension chapter by chapter. The ending is bloody and memorable. 4 1/2 stars. Highly recommended.
Each of the supporting characters gets a relatively small amount of “screen time”, but Westlake knows how to draw compelling realistic people and get the most out of them. The gang of kidnappers is fractured, nuanced, and balanced. There is an ambitious alcoholic FBI officer on the case, who is smart but not always wise; there is Davis’ agent, who may or may not harbor a secret love interest. This ensemble cast plays perfectly off one another with surprising results. In this sense, it reminded me of a really good Elmore Leonard novel, except in a Westlake novel everyone is smart instead of bumbling and incompetent.
It’s a funny book at times, much funnier than THE CUTIE or LEMONS NEVER LIE, but this is not another light caper like SOMEBODY OWES ME MONEY or GOD SAVE THE MARK. It’s a suspense story that slowly ratchets up the tension chapter by chapter. The ending is bloody and memorable. 4 1/2 stars. Highly recommended.
February 29, 2012
2.5
Definitely an interesting take on '60's antiwar politics as a band of aging radicals uses a kidnapping to (try to) advance their goals during the mid-70s aftermath of Vietnam/Watergate.
The most fully-realized character is the kidnap victim, a Bob Hope-style comedian who has fond memories of the women he played with during all those USO tours. Other characters, including the radicals and FBI agent, are not fully fleshed out.
Publishing this 35 years after it was written (and after the death of the author) gives the book novelty value. Westlake was very talented and there are things to like here...but ultimately it does not satisfy.
Definitely an interesting take on '60's antiwar politics as a band of aging radicals uses a kidnapping to (try to) advance their goals during the mid-70s aftermath of Vietnam/Watergate.
The most fully-realized character is the kidnap victim, a Bob Hope-style comedian who has fond memories of the women he played with during all those USO tours. Other characters, including the radicals and FBI agent, are not fully fleshed out.
Publishing this 35 years after it was written (and after the death of the author) gives the book novelty value. Westlake was very talented and there are things to like here...but ultimately it does not satisfy.
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