The Getaway Car: A Donald Westlake Nonfiction Miscellany

by Donald E. Westlake, Lawrence Block (Foreword), Levi Stahl (Editor)

Over the course of a fifty-year career, Donald E. Westlake published nearly one hundred books, including not one but two long-running series, starring the hard-hitting Parker and the hapless John Dortmunder. In the six years since his death, Westlake’s reputation has only grown, with fans continuing to marvel at his tightly constructed plots, no-nonsense prose, and keen, even unsettling, insights into human behavior.
 
With The Getaway Car , we get our first glimpse of another side of Westlake the what he did when he wasn’t busy making stuff up. And it’s fascinating. Setting previously published pieces, many little seen, alongside never-before-published material found in Westlake’s working files, the book offers a clear picture of the man behind the books―including his thoughts on his own work and that of his peers, mentors, and influences. The book opens with revealing (and funny) fragments from an unpublished autobiography, then goes on to offer an extended history of private eye fiction, a conversation among Westlake’s numerous pen names, letters to friends and colleagues, interviews, appreciations of fellow writers, and much, much more. There’s even a recipe for Sloth à la Dortmunder. Really.
 
Rounded out with a foreword by Westlake’s longtime friend Lawrence Block, The Getaway Car is a fitting capstone to a storied career and a wonderful opportunity to revel anew in the voice and sensibility of a master craftsman.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Crime, Mystery, Books About Books, Memoir, Literary Criticism

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Donald 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

Reviews

[Kemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

“No matter where he was headed, Don always drove like he was behind the wheel of the getaway car."

- Abby Adams Westlake

Apparently the late Donald Westlake wrote as fast as he drove. After his big break came in the late ‘50s by getting paid $600 to write a porno, he went on to author over 90 novels under various pseudonyms. He earned three Edgar Awards, an Academy Award nomination for screenplay, and the title of Grand Master from the Mystery Writer’s Association.

He’s probably best known for creating two thieves who couldn't be more different. One was a hard-boiled ruthless anti-hero and all-around son-of-a-bitch named Parker that Westlake published under the pen name of Richard Stark. The other was the luckless John Dortmunder, a sad sack that you couldn’t help but feel sorry for even as you laughed at his comic misadventures. That’s the essence of Westlake to me, that he could have two characters who have exactly the same criminal job yet their personalities and books couldn’t be more different, and I always want to read more stories about both of them.

This book collects a lot of non-fiction odds and ends from Westlake’s papers including letters, an excerpt from an unpublished autobiography, and introductions to various other works. There’s a fun essay he wrote in which he imagines a meeting between himself and his various pen names, and his wife also has a humorous piece on how Westlake’s personality would change when he was writing under one of his aliases. Westlake also had a lot to say on the mystery genre, and there’s one incredible act of bridge burning in a published essay on how he had quit writing sci-fi because the industry was essentially dead from an economic perspective for writers like him.

Taken as a whole, all of these provide a lot of interesting insight into Westlake’s thoughts on writing as both an art and a business as well as how he viewed his own career. And because this is Westlake, it’s got chuckle worthy comments on practically every page even though he remarks at several points that he never considered himself particularly funny and seems highly amused that he was best known under his own name as a comic mystery writer. Lawrence Block makes it a point in his touching introduction to explain that he didn’t think Westlake told jokes, but that he was a witty man who tried very hard to make his writing amusing.

The thing that really stands out is that Westlake hustled. He didn’t sit around waiting for a muse to inspire or him or rewriting a single line over and over. He had bills to pay so he produced constantly. Authors like him who churn out words to make a living often have a pragmatic and workmanlike approach to their writing. That’s a recipe for people with less talent and more cynicism to become hacks. For a writer like Westlake that discipline and craftsmanship made him one of the greats.

Also posted at Kemper's Book Blog.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Getaway Car is a collection of Donald Westlake's nonfiction work.

I arrived really late to the Westlake party. In fact, when he died, I think I'd only read a handful of his books. Since then, however, I've probably read 25-30 more and thus I was interested in this collection.

The Getaway Car offers up letters, introductions, and essays Donald Westlake wrote during his lifetime. He covers a wide range of topics, like how he wasn't able to support himself writing science fiction in a scathing letter to Xero, a sf fanzine, to his trials and tribulations involving Hollywood. Along the way, he covers such diverse subjects as Lawrence Block, Rex Stout, Peter Rabe, and his wife's tuna casserole recipe.

I liked this book as it shows Westlake was a clever guy no matter what he was writing. There wasn't a lot of meat to it, however. It was kind of thin and some of the selections seemed included to pad the page count.

That being said, I did enjoy a lot of it. It makes me want to read more Peter Rabe, for instance. It also drives home the point of how unknown and unappreciated Westlake was by the general public. With 90 novels under his belt, he was the James Patterson of his era, with the added bonus of actually being a good writer.

Three out of five stars. Maybe 2015 will be the year of the great Parker re-read.

[Dana King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came late to Westlake, and the more I learn of him, the better I like him, both as a writer and as a man. This potpourri of non-fiction—letters, essays, book introductions—is sometimes serious, more often funny, but always well crafted. Lawrence Block’s introduction takes editor Stahl to task for referring to Westlake’s “jokes,” and is right to do so. There’s not a joke in the book, though there are lot of laughs. Westlake’s strength was his wit, which showed itself in his ability to phrase what would have seemed commonplace coming from anyone else in such a way the corner of your mouth can’t help but turn up. Read this, even if you’re not a Westlake fan. Not only will it be great fun, but you’ll likely become a fan.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Donald E. Westlake's non fiction. Most people know that he wrote under half a dozen names, such as RICHARD STARK, TUCKER COE, SAMUEL HOLT, ALAN MARSHALL, EDWIN WEST, JOHN DEXTER, DON HOLLIDAY, and CURT CLARK, to list just some of the names commonly known. Mr. Westlake is credited with writing one hundred books, however, I'm sure that he wrote perhaps double that amount as he would not divulge this information..

Yet all we have is this small book of his non-fiction. Articles, Interviews, Introductions, containing his thoughts on his books, his books that were made into movies, and other writers books.

He was a three-time Edgar Award winner, and In 1993, the Mystery Writers of America named Mr. Westlake a "Grand Master".

There is some good reading here.

Sadly Mr. Westlake died December 31, 2008, leaving a huge hole in our reading lives.

His website can be found here:

http://www.donaldwestlake.com/

[Still · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of essays, correspondence, interviews, and reviews with/by Donald Westlake.
Some of the entries are interviews done with alter-egos Tucker Coe and Richard Stark.
Terrific read.
Recommended!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reviews I have seen of The Getaway Car tend to overpraise it, as the reviewers’ (understandable) love of Westlake the Fiction Writer tends to cloud their perceptions of Westlake the Nonfiction Writer. As a fiction writer, Westlake was a genius, no doubt about it. As a nonfiction writer, Westlake was at least competent, but he never really tried to be more than that. As editor Levi Stahl notes, Westlake wrote so little nonfiction that Stahl, had he chosen, could have collected all of it in a volume. Instead, Stahl decided to pick and choose, and it’s a decidedly mixed bag (which suggests that Stahl was right not to simply collect all of it). Perhaps the most disappointing item is the roundtable discussion among Donald E. Westlake and his pseudonyms Tucker Coe, Timothy J. Culver, and Richard Stark—what seems like a brilliant idea in abstract quickly turns into a lame joke. As Stahl is quick to note in his introduction, this is really a collection for hardcore Westlake fans only. If you haven’t read much Westlake, don’t read The Getaway Car. First read at least the Parker novels, the Dortmunder novels, and The Ax. (And even if you’ve read all those, beware—spoilers abound!) Once you have immersed yourself in the Westlake canon, you will find The Getaway Car to be very, very interesting. Not great, but very, very interesting.

[Christian Hamaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a pleasure. The first half of this collection includes an overview of crime fiction that I'm sure I'll go back to over the years. It's just the thing I've been looking for to better understand the genre's distinctions, major figures and general appeal, which has proved, frankly, somewhat mysterious to me as I've gravitated toward this type of writing in recent years.

I'm grateful for this collection, and for the additional reading it's certain to spur in years to come.

[Robert D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Donald Westlake. What more needs be said?

The author is revealed in his own words, through his own eyes, in all his humor and wisdom. A pleasure and privilege to read.

[Dan Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

This could be looked at as a 'dedicated' book. That is, a book for people who have read Donald Westlake and only them. That, however, would be a waste. Inside these pages is a delightful array of material gleaned from Westlakes's decades of writing Forwards, letter's and Introductions. His insights on writing, on various authors; his critical way of looking at movies and the business of writing; and his general outlook on life all are worthy of attention. Reading his work is an exercise in restraining one's self from laughing too much, for Westlake is a wit. If one has not read Thuber or Benchley, for example, such a person might do well to start here and gain inspiration. Those familiar with the mentioned icons will find further enjoyment with Mr. Westlake. And after sampling his wit and intelligence hee, moving on to his fiction comes naturally. I would especially recommend "Kahawa".
Recommended.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A treasure trove. Westlake is unparalleled in crime fiction— prolific in his output, proud to produce trifles and larks, but totally serious about both his characters and his craft. Contained herein are some illuminating fragments from a never-finished memoir; reflections on genre and craft that have ballooned my to-read list with about a zillion crime titles; dry and witty correspondences; and, best of all, a valiant defense of the humble semicolon. Don’t make this the first Westlake you read. But do read it.

[Stven · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you enjoy reading Donald E. Westlake's books -- it's his Parker novels written under the name Richard Stark that I particularly enjoy -- you'll find some interesting reading here among the scraps of newspaper articles, letters, etc., that the editor has chosen to include. Westlake comes across as, and/or makes an effort to come across as, a fairly normal schmo who happens to be a writer and thinks there's a distinction worth making between people who write for a living and people who just write. We can certainly allow him that conceit.

[Charles Finch · Rating 5 out of 5]

My New York Times review:

THE GETAWAY CAR

A Donald Westlake Nonfiction Miscellany

Edited by Levi Stahl

University of Chicago, paper, $18.

“This is a book for fans,” Stahl insists in his introduction — the sole misstep of his whole enterprise, because in fact this is a book for everyone, anyone who likes mystery novels or good writing or wit and passion and intelligence, regardless of their source.

Westlake was a pro. He published more than a hundred books under several names, and while many were beloved, and several became movies, none were the kind of blockbusters that keep money falling from the sky indefinitely. As a result, some of the essays here focus on the ways of a writer who works hard for a living — the state of his desk, what magazines pay. Stahl has assembled these pieces both lovingly and wisely, keeping things brisk, interspersing funny bits of ephemera (including Westlake’s recipe for tuna casserole, demand for which was, he reports, “scant and relenting”). But there’s serious work too, including a stunningly insightful history of hardboiled fiction.

Westlake was unlucky enough to live in the valley between two periods of glamour for the genre storyteller, the punchy heyday of Sam Spade and the supercollider ascendancy of Quentin Tarantino. In either of those times, larger cultural forces might have picked him up. As it is, he had a hardworking, prolific, quietish career. His understanding of that — “The work was very important but at the same time it didn’t matter at all,” he writes in an impeccable short essay about Charles Willeford — adds gravity to a collection one hopes will find him new readers.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well-edited collection of Westlake's letters,essays, speeches and whatnot. Nonfiction wasn't really his thing, so there's nothing terrifically vital here. It's all amusing, though. I really like his "interview" with all of his pseudonyms, and his speech about hardboiled mysteries, and the one where he differentiates being an "author" from being a writer. And if you like hatchet jobs, the one where he dismisses all sixties science fiction short story writers, magazines, editors, and publishers is kind of breathtaking.

[miteypen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be. Some of it—especially the stuff on writing—was very good. But there was a fair amount that didn’t add to the collection. So my recommendation would be to read the sections that interest you and leave the rest. (The first half of the book was the strongest, in my opinion.) A disclaimer: I’ve never read any of Westlake’s fiction; I probably would have liked this better if I had. But any book that shows what the mind of a writer is like is fascinating to me, and this book is no exception.

[John Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nifty collection of the little bits of non-fiction that any pro inevitably cranks out: the book reviews, the anthology introductions, the odd article, whatever keeps the checks coming. Although certainly for fans only, the contents are interesting and liberally laced with Westlakian wit. The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that his fiction is even better.

[Awwwtrouble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up, I read a fair amount of Westlake, and always loved his humorous capers and his hapless crook Dortmunder. One of the librarians in Pocomoke recommended him to me when I was outgrowing the paltry young adult section, and I really enjoyed his writing style, cleverness, and wit. I haven't read much - any - of his in a long time, but I ran across this book of his essays and letters and decided to give it a try. There's a lot here - it's a bit dense, really. But I thoroughly enjoyed an early piece, a talk he gave at the Smithsonian in the 70s about the history and future of the detective story. He made some interesting parallels to the history of the western. And it's interesting to think of how the mystery genre has grown and changed since the 70s. I'd have loved to read an update of that particular essay. I also enjoyed his disparagement of the science fiction genre.

This has made me want to pick up some of his books - sadly the library does not have the first Dortmuder book available, and I like to start series at the beginning, though I think it doesn't much matter. Westlake was really from an older time- started in the 50s, heyday in the 70s, but a resurgence in the early 00s. He was successful, but not to the point of being a bestseller until somehow, improbably, I think, a few of his later books really hit (especially from his Stark line, which was harder hitting, and which I never read). Several of his books were also made into middling movies (none of which I've ever heard of, to be honest). Clearly a smart, funny, erudite guy - hoping I can make some room in my to-read lists for a refresh.

[John Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donald Westlake was an extremely prolific author, who wrote under multiple pseudonyms. As Richard Stark, for example, he wrote a series about the hard-boiled criminal Parker. He wrote SF, porn, detective fiction and occasionally short stories and non-fiction.He also wrote movie scripts, or adapted novels for the movies. Several of his own works have been released as films.
Westlake wrote to pay the bills - he was a true professional writer. When he determined that SF was not a paying proposition, he stopped writing it. If editors demanded changes to his story, he complied and got paid.
This book contains essays, reviews, correspondence and bits and pieces written by Westlake at various times, and collated after his death. His witty style makes for an entertaining read. For myself, sometimes that sort of thing can grate on me, if it's overdone. To be honest, I don't think I've read any of his many books. I decided early on that the hard-boiled style was not my favourite - perhaps that had something to do with it. Admittedly, not all of his books came into that category. Another reason is the lack of availability of his works in the library. I must try to access a few of them from somewhere.
It's easy to see that Westlake was a master of his craft. He analyses the detective genre in a self-deprecating way - not to mention some of his own works.
I found the book interesting and entertaining, yet I left it unfinished for several weeks. The library wanted it back, so I hurried through.
Readers will get a professional analysis of what it means to be an author, and "tricks" needed to succeed, i.e. get paid regularly and sufficiently.
I'll call it a rating 4.0.

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comic caper novelist (and deadly serious crime novelist when he wrote as Richard Stark) Donald Westlake died in 2008 at age 75, and those of us who enjoyed (and miss) his work may also enjoy this accurately described book of "Nonfiction Miscellany." They are mostly short pieces, ranging from 2 to maybe 7 pages, consisting of letters to friends (and agents and admirers), introductions to the books of other writers and the like. For completists, there's nothing here for those not already Westlake fans. The book is full of the clever wit that endeared Westlake to fans, but there's no clever story (another Westlake staple), so it's at most a chance to learn what he thought about what he did for a living, and to spend some time visiting an old, funny friend. It's made me want to read some of Westlake's earlier work, and maybe to re-visit his crowning achievement, the Dortmunder series of ingeniously comic caper novels.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miscellany of Westlake nonfiction spanning decades. A trifle, with some interesting bits, especially the essays where he dissects crime fiction, with recommendations of other writers. I found some folks I haven't read in there who I'm going to seek out. Some trenchant comments on the "Donalds:" John D. MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, etc.

Here's a list of novels he recommends:

The Hoke Mostly series by Willeford (excellent books, love them)
The Red Right Hand by Rogers
Kill the Boss Goodbye by Rabe (now on my Kindle)
The Gravedigger/Coffin Ed Series by Himes (need to reread some of these)
Interface by Gores (read it decades ago, loved it, time for a reread)
The Eighth Circle by Ellin
Sleep and His Brother by Dickinson (don't know, though have read him)
The Light of Day by Ambler

[Matthew Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. It's clearly for Donald Westlake fans, which I am. This reminds me of a quote I heard somewhere that went something like "people think in an interview you should be witty and entertaining, like your books, but you can't compete with that because you're put your best material in the book."

As so it is with this book. The more interesting parts are the biographic parts. He received several awards and there are the transcripts from his speeches and while he clearly knows writing the speeches are kind of long and boring. There was some correspondence some interesting and some not. I would have appreciated more biographic parts.

So bottom line mildly interesting for Westlake fans, but not nearly as interesting as a reissue of one of his books.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think you have to be a really big fan of Westlake to enjoy all of the material in this book. I'm a pretty big fan, so I enjoyed only most of it. The multiple introductions he wrote for other author's books were not my cup of tea at all. And most of his letters didn't do much either.

I think the most amazing page of this book is right at the beginning - the list of all of the books he wrote and all of the names he wrote them under! I mean, even with the small font they used, it's an amazing, overwhelming amount! I've read a lot of them, but it sure would be something to read them all!

I loved his ten most wanted books to read (even if there are only nine!) and the recipe for May's Famous Tuna Casserole that is mentioned so often in the Dortmunder series! And I think that Mr. Westlake would have been a heck of a man to know in person. I guess I have to settle for knowing him through his books, and that's a compromise I look forward to!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald Westlake's writing was always fun. This book shows his humor and skill in writing even when just sending routine correspondence. Loved this book.

[Tj · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great compendium of random writings for one of the greatest of all time. Enjoyed a peek behind the curtains, but mostly it just made me want to read or re-read all of his fiction again.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of great stuff in here, and a lot of stuff that's so-so. Skim it, unless you're a diehard Westlake fan.

[Derek Rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply terrific. For a writer there is gold-dust spread throughout. You'll have to get your sieve out and work a little loose earth out of the way, but boy is it worth it.

[Hans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heartily echo the advice from the Editor's Introduction:

"If this is the first book by Donald E. Westlake you've ever held in your hands, stop right here. Put it down and walk away…straight to the crime section of your bookstore, where I'd suggest you start with The Hunter, the first book in his classic series about Parker, the heister's heister; or The Hot Rock, the first misadventure of hapless thief John Dortmunder and his crew; or The Ax, Westlake's painfully acute dissection-through-crime of contemporary economic pain; or the brilliantly funny stand-alone Somebody Owes Me Money, whose opening line -- 'I bet none of it would have happened if I wasn't so eloquent' --tells you all you need to know about the voice of its put-upon cabbie narrator. When you run through those, and the couple dozen more they'll lead you to, we'll gladly welcome you back here."

In the past 10-15 years, Westlake became my favorite writer. (Note that he considered himself a writer and not an author.) I'm 50+ books into his work, so I pass the Editor's test.

What can I say? There are some books that feel like they are written for you. This is one for me. It's a peek into the words of Donald Westlake when he wasn't making up the stories. I appreciated some pieces more than others, but all felt essential because they provide a glimpse of Westlake and his work.

Will you love this book as much as me? Maybe not…unless you also feel like this book was put together for you to enjoy.

The only other quick note to add is that reading Westlake's writing about other writers made me add about 20-30 books that I should have read or didn't know about. I love it when a book leads you to discover another one. I still have more Westlake to discover, but now I have many others to visit.

Thanks to Levi Stahl for his work combing through Westlake's writing. There are some truly great bits strewn throughout.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hotchpotch of Westlake's essays, interviews, reviews, introductions to compilations, assorted letters, and even a list he kept of possible future titles for novels (divided neatly into separate “Crime” and “Comic Crime” columns). Some are already fairly famous, or at least notorious, like his bridge-burning “Why I no longer write sci-fi” screed, or even Dortmunder's tuna casserole recipe, but others have never before appeared in print.

As Lawrence Block points out in his introduction, the thing that shines through most clearly is Westlake's all-encompassing wit. There are many hilarious moments here: the story of how, when he first started writing, he knew he needed right-justified margins, but couldn't work out how to get those on his type-writer, other than by carefully constructing lines of exactly the right length, is delightful, as is the shaggy-dog story of how Jimmy The Kid (featuring “an invented novel from a pseudonymous author appearing in a real novel by the same author based on a producer’s idea to use a real-life case in which actual criminals performed a crime based on The Snatch, by Lionel White”) came to be.

The highlights for me were the pieces (including a round-table discussion between Westlake and three (of his many) pseudonyms) where he lays out the history of the crime/mystery/detective novel (including several digressions on what to even call the genre), and particularly how the changes in style reflect those of American society at large post-WWI, post-WWII, and post-Vietnam. A solid two-thirds of the book, however, will really only be of interest to Westlake aficionados.

[Philipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Getaway Car: A Donald Westlake Miscellany (2014)
Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008)
Nonfiction: essays, introductions, letters, lists (223 pp.)
Pieces from 1960 to 2005; US, with one piece about returning from overseas’ service
Analysis of and commentary on the crime genre

Semi-Random Semi-Representative Sample:
The first writers tended to be veterans of the recent war, middle-class men themselves with some physical labor in their background […]
I would like to suggest that in popular fiction, when a new genre moves out of its youth, the vitality necessary to its survival comes in fact from ritual […]
After Hammett and the first-wave writers, Chandler and the second-wave writers also were their characters, but not in the same way. Reality was replaced by fiction, experience replaced by ritual, storytelling replaced by literature.
Bookstore Cat Sample:
[N]ot one person who really matters at the publishing house will read the novel first, if at all. What is read is the sales figures from that writer’s previous novels. The self-fulfilling prophecy is the only business strategy known to these MBA geniuses, who were never fired for the novels they didn’t publish.

Reminds me of: Other introductions and essays mixed with a bit of Lem and Borges, since they come to us here in a disembodied state.

Why I picked it up: review of recent crime books in NYTimes made me suggest it to the nonfiction book club.

Good: smart and funny. Leads to further inspiration and gives reading lists (unfortunately of many items that are out of print).
Bad: Occasionally repetitive. But that’s forgivable, given the format.

[Pedro L. Fragoso · Rating 4 out of 5]

These essays about literature, writing, friendship and life are lively, intelligent and compelling.

This is unforgivable (because it's almost inconceivably stupid): "My article, in twenty-five hundred ill-chosen words, attempted to say one thing: science fiction is neither an artistic nor a commercial field."

The Azores is one of my favorite places on Earth. This is hard to swallow, even if I get the context: "I don’t want to say anything bad about an ally, and I presume Portugal is still an ally, but the Azores are never, ever going to be mistaken for Club Med. The weather, probably the leading edge of my friend the storm, was overcast and clammy. The landscape was vertical and dour, darkly jagged, unfit for human occupancy, rather like a Bronte novel without the characters. If there were a Michelin guide to the place, it would consist of one word: Don’t."

This is the best phrase in the book: "Sex, sports and writing are the three fields where it is considered somehow a fall from grace to accept money for doing what you’re good at."

[Robert Lopresti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald E. Westlake was one of the great crime writers of the twentieth century. He wrote brilliant hard-boiled stuff and then could turn around and write some of the best comic novels ever. This posthumous collection of nonfiction takes us under the hood and shows us a bit of how we worked and the thinking behind the great fiction. There is, for example, a confession of a teenage crime that clearly inspired the best part of his stunning novel THE AX. Plus hilarious reflections on the series of disasters that led to his Dortmunder novel JIMMY THE KID. (A novel based on a screenplay based on a true crime which was ITSELF based on a novel.)

Then there are Westlake's adventures in Hollywood (he was nominated for an Oscar for his script for THE GRIFTERS). And his brilliant, funny reflections on almost everything. If you love Westlake or his alter ego Richard Stark, you want this book.