What's So Funny?

Dortmunder #14

by Donald E. Westlake

In what may be the "best Dortmunder yarn yet," Westlake's seasoned but often scoreless crook must take on an impossible crime, one he doesn't want and doesn't believe in -- but a little blackmail goes a long way (Associated Press).
All it takes is a few underhanded moves by a tough ex-cop named Eppick to pull Dortmunder into a game he never wanted to play.
With no choice, he musters his always-game gang and they set out on a perilous treasure hunt for a long-lost gold and jewel-studded chess set once intended as a birthday gift for the last Romanov czar, which unfortunately reached Russia after that party was over.

From the moment Dortmunder reaches for his first pawn, he faces insurmountable odds. The purloined past of this precious set is destined to confound any strategy he finds on the board. Success is not inevitable with John Dortmunder leading the attack, but he's nothing if not persistent, and some gambit or other might just stumble into a winning move.

Genres: Mystery, Humor, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Comedy, Mystery Thriller

416 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

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

[Metodi Markov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Читава кримка, приятно ми бе да я прочета.

Вероятно ще пробвам някоя друга книга от поредицата на английски.

Моята оценка - 3,5*.

[thefourthvine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's sort of hard to rate this one fairly; I understand that there's another Dortmunder book coming out in 2009, but this still feels like the end of an era, given Westlake's death. So there was something of a nostalgia factor at work here.

But, overall, this is just another middling Dortmunder novel - which means it's fun, yes, but not laugh-out-loud funny, the way some of the earlier novels are, and not as complex and devious as most of middle ones are.

Part of the problem is that the formula is starting to show. (No, part of the problem is that there is a formula; the early and middle books lacked that.) It's easy to predict the plot; you take threads A, B, and C, and if you've read other books in the series, you know exactly how it will end up. Part of the problem is that these last books just don't have the edge that the early ones did.

But still - Dortmunder and company are good companions for an afternoon, and this book is fun and engaging, if not exactly off the charts. I'd recommend it for people who have read all the books before Bad News and still aren't satisfied - and for anyone who is sad that with Westlake gone, Dortmunder is now a very limited commodity.

[Merciful · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you know about Dortmunder? Man, I love Dortmunder! Here's how this one starts:

"WHEN JOHN DORTMUNDER, RELIEVED, walked out of Pointers and back to the main sales floor of the O.J. Bar & Grill on Amsterdam Avenue a little after ten that Wednesday evening in November, the silence was unbelievable, particularly in contrast with the racket that had been going on when he’d left. But now, no. Not a word, not a peep, not a word. The regulars all hunched at the bar were clutching tight to their glasses as they practiced their thousandyard stare, while the lady irregulars mostly seemed to be thinking about their canning. Even Andy Kelp, who had been sharing a bourbon with Dortmunder down at the far end of the bar while they waited for the rest of their group to arrive, now seemed to have settled deeply into a search for a rhyme for “silver.” All in all, it looked as though a whole lot of interior monologue was going on.

It took Dortmunder about one and six-seventeenth seconds to figure out what had changed while he was away. One of the seldom used side booths, the one nearest the street door, was now occupied by a person drinking something out of a tall clear glass, revealing both ice and bubbles within, which meant club soda, which probably meant nonalcoholic. This person, male, about forty-five, who apparently still permitted his grandmother to cut his thick black hair, wore on his lumpy countenance the kind of bland inattention that did not suggest interior monologue but, rather, intense listening. A cop, therefore, and not only that but a cop dressed in what he no doubt thought of as civilian attire, being a shapeless shiny old black suit jacket, an emerald green polo shirt and shapeless tan khakis. He also seemed to subscribe to the usual cop belief that the male body was supposed to have bulges around the middle, like a sack of potatoes, the better to hang the equipment belt on, so that your average law enforcement officer does present himself to the public as a person with a lot of Idaho inside. As Dortmunder moved around the corner from the end of the bar and started past the clenched backs of the interior monologists, two things happened which he found disturbing. First, the lumpy features of the cop over there suddenly became even more bland, his eyes even less focused, the movement of his arm bringing club soda to his mouth even more relaxed and even.

It’s me! Dortmunder screamed inside, without letting anything - he certainly hoped - appear on the surface, it’s me he’s after, it’s me he wants, it’s me he’s got the tag sale duds on for."

***

Oh yeah!!! There's no such thing as a bad Dortmunder novel.
They are big, big fun!

Merc

[Spiros · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best way to think of the Dortmunder books: imagine P.G. Wodehouse (however anachronistically) re-writing Guy Ritchie movies as novels. Sadly, this will be the last of the Dortmunder series; Westlake, like Dickens and Austen, went out still at the top of his game. Who but Westlake would create a NYPD "Chief Inspector Mologna (pronounced Maloney)"? And who but Westlake would have been shameless enough to christen a bungling security outfit "the Continental Detective Agency"?

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely caper novel from Donald Westlake - the chess set!

This was wonderfully well written, a palate cleanser of a novel that is so smooth that I didn't realize how fast I was reading it until it was nearly over. My only beef with the story is that the ending was predictable; things go wrong with the heist, as they must.

But oh, it was such a small quibble!

Recommended if you like caper novels.

[Jeff P · Rating 3 out of 5]

These Dortmunder books are always a quick and enjoyable read and this one is no different. Dortmunder and his associates are a gang of small time criminals who are getting by, but nothing ever goes quite right for the big score. The story in this one is that John is blackmailed by an ex-cop to "retrieve" a priceless gold chess set once intended for Czar Nicholas II for an old man whose father had stolen it originally at the end of WWI.

[F.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more like it!

I was disappointed by the last Westlake novel I attempted (a rather humourless thriller entitled 361) and was advised to try a Dortmunder. I'm very glad I did. For years now I've been a Parker fan and these books seem to work as a counter-point to those. In Dortmunder we have a character who, while a really good planner, is not a violent sociopath. It means that Westlake/Stark can take his ideas in a different direction. For example, the proposition put to the lead character in this book would have led to horrible reprisals if put to Parker, but Dortmunder just has to go along with it.

(I did actually spot some over-lap between these series. Both this and Ask The Parrot - a Parker novel from the year before - explicitly reference Poe's The Purloined Letter.)

The plot involves Dortmunder being tasked to steal a gold chess set from a seemingly impregnable vault. Various confusions arise and comic scenarios play out, as the gang brought together tries desperately to pinch victory from the jaws of defeat.

I'm informed there are better Dortmunder novels out there, so I will track them down. It's a task I'm looking forward to.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best Dortmunder book, but fun none-the-less! John gets put up by a private-eye type, "17 months not a cop" says he, to steal a gold chess set from a bank's vault. And there is also a gold dome that might need some thieving! And, of course, the whole crew gets involved and it's typical Dortmunder luck from then on! The story does go on a bit, but the ending is well done! Not so funny after all!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a four-star review and not a five-star review only because Westlake sets the bar for himself so very high that it's sometimes hard for him to maintain such a high level of quality, humor, and style. That said, this is still a highly entertaining and whimsical Dortmunder adventure, with everything you know and love about him and his circle of hapless friends-come-thieves present and accounted for. I've mentioned elsewhere that Westlake clearly maintains a deep wellspring of affection for these guys, and has a grand time putting them through their paces, especially our old friend John Dortmunder, who goes into this particular heist very much against his will--or whatever it is you want to call Dortmunder's motivating force (survival? freedom from boredom?).

Also, one little observation: this book has a lot of Elmore Leonard's fingerprints on it, no doubt because Westlake was as much a reader as he was a writer (God rest his soul), and as Stephen King once said while introducing Harlan Ellison, milk takes the flavor of what it sets next to in the icebox. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, either.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another John Dortmunder and gang story. Another good story by Westlake, and sadly there will be no more (although I still have one more in this series to read).

All the gang is here, except Stan's mom. Characters I have known and read for many years.

John has his share of bad luck and setbacks, but still keeps plugging forward. A couple of surprises and that is wonderful.

Not his best work, but a fun read.

[Carol Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

An ex-cop turned private eye forces Dortmunder to pull off the impossible robbery -- an 800 pound gold chess set stored in a vault under a Fifth Avenue bank. Many lovely twists and turns, including an aging blue-blood matron dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West. One more Dortmunder to go and I will have finished my revist to this wonderful series!

[Mer · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://hardcover.app/books/whats-so-...

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid Dortmunder. Westlake loved these characters, and he's crafted another complex plot. This is formula, but Westlake dresses it up nicely with wisecracks throughout. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent entry in this series. Once again, John Dortmunder proves that in this life, all is vanity.

[le-trombone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of Westlake's stories of John Dortmunder, a professional thief who is very good at planning, but who is also very unlucky.

In this book his bad luck shows up first, in the form of Eppick, a retired cop now private detective, who has just enough evidence on Dortmunder for a burglary to convince him to take a job to retrieve a valuable artifact: a chess set originally meant for the last czar of Russia, "acquired" by WWII soldiers in Murmansk, stolen by one of their fellow soldiers, and finally located by the granddaughter of another soldier.

This being a Dortmunder story, things are not simple. The chess set simply cannot be stolen from its present location, so there has to be a way to get it moved. The granddaughter of the surviving soldier is fired for being too forward to one of the heirs of the chess set. Dortmunder's usual gang is on the one hand impatient with his inability to come up with a plan that gets the chess set where it can be stolen, and on the other hand trying to avoid the notice of Eppick by avoiding Dortmunder. And naturally Dortmunder and company don't think they're getting paid well enough for this caper, and feel a need to supplement their income.

This doesn't disappoint, and has the usual humor of a book set around people who think theft is as normal as eating breakfast, but it doesn't hit the peak of a Good Behavior. Dortmunder has done better.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the first Dortmunder novel I've read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really like stories with good capers (like Ocean's Eleven) and this fit the bill. (Though I'm not sure why it's called "What's so Funny?")

I wasn't familiar with the characters that made up the gang, but I was given enough background and they had enough development for me to learn about them and get a sense of who they were without bogging the story down with too much exposition. They are likable and believable enough with a varied set of skills that makes a good team, though there's still an "every man for himself" attitude among them that comes from recognizing that they're all thieves. There's a sense of sympathy for Dortmunder, but it never turns to pity. Even though he's a thief, he's easy to cheer for.

It was nice that it was in NYC, of which I now enjoy having visited and thus have an idea of the layout. The story felt well thought out and didn't have an plot holes I could drive a truck through. Of course the book had an ending in which everything was resolved, but how it got there was satisfactory and engaging. The story moved along at a good pace and I found it difficult to put the book down, which I figure is the sign of a good book.

I would definitely give another Dortmunder novel a read and see how that fares.

[Robert J. Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

You'd think that a 680 lb gold and jewel-encrusted chess set, once intended as a gift for Czar Nicholas II of Russia and subsequently liberated by some enterprising US doughboys after World War I would be exactly the kind of object that John Dortmunder, hangdog, recidivist hard-luck criminal mastermind, would love to put his hands on. However, since the chess set is locked in a vault in the sub-sub-sub-basement of a Manhattan bank, John's greed is tempered by his stronger desire to stay out of prison. If it weren't for the incriminating photographs possessed by an ex-cop named Eppick, our hero wouldn't go near it.

Along the way to the finale, Westlake adds little confections, like the Thai-Bangladeshi fusion restaurant called Endi Rhuni where the house specialty is vulture wings.

Another delightful crime caper, a frothy delight with Dortmunder and his crew, this one culminates in a door-slamming slapstick farce of a robbery that, once again, is almost the perfect crime. 3 stars

[Dale Rosenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize there were any Westlakes left that I hadn't read! So I was excited to find this one. I had read the final Dortmunder - _Get Real_ - which is about reality television. This one is a heist of a chess set made of gold and jewels and originally commissioned by the last czar of Russia, but never delivered because of the Revolution. I laughed a lot, and enjoyed all the old characters. The new, just for this novel, characters were interesting and some of them quite funny, as well. The plots themselves are a little formulaic - everything seems to go to plan until it doesn't and Dortmunder and the gang have to keep changing their plans and end up, usually, with less than they'd hoped for at the start. Still, just how things will go wrong is always a surprise and the witty descriptions and humorous dialogue are definitely worth the read.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked out this book because it was a featured book for one of the book clubs I monitor. Unfortunately, I can't remember which one. Still, I would not have picked out this book without the recommendation, and it was an interesting story. It wasn't nearly as humorous as I expected it to be (I thought it would be similar to a Tim Dorsey novel), but it was entertaining and I appreciated the satire of the ending. The characters were interesting and I found myself rooting for the "criminals." I haven't read any of the other stories in the Dortmunder series before, but I'd be willing to check another one out.

[Quentin Feduchin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final Dortmunder, I'm so sorry to write. I loved them all, the bungling minor criminals who usually made a buck out of their illegal efforts, but then invariably victory was snatched from them by an unforseen theft-of-the-theft, or a misplacement of the winnings, or someone got lost..
Who can possibly forget Bank Shot, probably the funniest of them all; as everything completely disappears under water? (You will have to read why; your sides will split laughing.)
Goodbye Dormunder; and goodbye Donald. Although there are many other good books written by him, the theme behind Dortmunder makes that series unique.
The nearest to Westlake in humour that anyone comes is Carl Hiaasson, the Florida journalist/writer. He also is great.

[Dyana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this book as an audiobook. Altho this is not Westlake's best work, I gave it 5 stars because he is one of my favorite authors, and the story IS about the Dortmunder gang. It's a laugh-out-loud humorous crime novel about a group of unlucky bumbling criminals that never get it right. A retired ex-cop named Eppick has just enough evidence to blackmail Dortmunder into stealing a priceless chess set (the history of which is too complicated to describe here). The chess set is supposed to be unattainable, but by sheer luck the gang forges ahead. After many twists and turns, the memorable characters attain their goal, but then comes the surprise ending!!!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dortmunder novels, in case you're not a fan like me, are about John Dortmunder and his partners in crime. They are SOOOO funny. They're like a ragtag group of bumbling criminals, that get an E for Effort, but never quite get it right. In this one, they get hired to steal a solid gold chess set, and the ending is hilarious!!! These are laugh-out-loud books. Really worth reading. They all have the same characters, so it's like visiting friends every time you open one of these books up. I'd recommend the Dortmunder books to Everyone!!!!!

[Paula Hebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay, it's not great literature by snob standards, but donald westlake's dortmunder novels will always get four stars from me. anyone who has not read these comedy crime stories is cheating themselves out of a lot of fun. in what's so funny? the morose dortmunder and his band of misfits are strongarmed into stealing a solid gold chess set that is in security so tight it is impossible to get to. needless to say, a series of twists and turns in the plot lead the gang into unchartered territory, and I loved every page of it. if you need a few good laughs, try dortmunder.

[Julie Achterhoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of blunders. A burglar is forced by an ex-cop to perform a heist of a chess set worth millions. He has an Andy Capp attitude, but enlists his fellow burglars' help to obtain the goods. It's all pure luck along the way as these fellow thieves embark on their path. I learned a lot about the underbelly of society in this book. I thought it was good as it had me hanging all the way through to the unexpected conclusion.

[Pat Gerke · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable heist story, and worth the read. Westlake takes his time setting up all of his dominoes before sending them into action. In the end I felt a bit too much time was wasted in aligning the pieces and too few of them paid off in the end. However, Westlake's characters and dry humor kept me entertained from cover to cover, leaving me wanting to read another book in the Dortmunder series.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast, funny crime caper, splendid observations – “he looked like the part of the missile that gets left over the Indian Ocean, plus a homburg hat”. Excellent cast of characters too, neatly and tersely drawn.

I'l definitely be looking out for the rest of the series.

One minor quibble – the blurb on the back of the book says “1944 Murmansk” – but it should be 1920 Murmansk.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Less entertaining than the typical Dortmunder caper, as the gang really aren't involved for the majority of the book. The plot seemed promising but I found the story rather disjointed, with too many abrupt shifts. Westlake is talented and does manage one of his patented funny endings, but not enough to make this better than average.

[José Palomares · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soy muy fan de Donald Westlake y especialmente de su personaje Dortmunder. Esta novela, What's So Funny? me ha divertido mucho https://amzn.to/2yjXgp0

‏En realidad la había leído hace un par de años, pero no me acordaba. Bien, porque la he vuelto a leer y a reírme casi en cada página. Para quien no lo conozca, Westlake es un prolífico autor de novelas de misterio, algunas de las cuales son cómicas.

Too much, la película de Trueba, está basada en una novela suya.

Dortmunder es un personaje estupendo: un ladrón, un genial planificador de robos, que tiene verdadera mala suerte. La primera novela Un diamante al rojo vivo, cuenta sus dificultades para robar una joya legendaria https://amzn.to/2CJKHHL

Es una novela maravillosa y divertidísima. Echadle un ojo.

Westlake es un autor un poco como Elmore Leonard, con personajes solidísimos, diálogos estupendos, un pageturner de la vida. Yo me lo paso teta al leerlo, la verdad. What's so funny? tiene las cualidades típicas del autor y también sus defectos típicos. Es muy divertido e ingenioso, pero al final se va desinflando (también le pasa a Leonard). Westlake admitía que él no era muy de preparar tramas. Que iba escribiendo según le salía.

Y creo que a veces se nota, que se le agota el tema o ha llegado el momento de poner punto final. Pero vamos, que yo lo adoro igual o más que a Elmore Leonard.

Por otra parte, en la sección curiosidades, Westlake inventó un personaje que es todo lo contrario de Dortmunder, Parker. Un tío duro, sin escrúpulos, que protagoniza novelas negrísimas sin humor:
https://youtu.be/MTSqlCNEbMw

Ya A quemarropa, con Lee Marvin, estaba basada en una novela de Westlake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3gj5... El protagonista se llama Walker, pero vamos, que es Parker

En España Westlake no ha tenido demasiado suerte, no sé por qué. Hay cosas sueltas publicadas aquí y allá por Júcar, RBA, etcétera. Pero si veis por ahí en alguna librería de segunda mano alguna novela suya, pilladla sin duda. Diversión garantizadísima.

[Martin Furst · Rating 5 out of 5]

První kniha s Dormunderem a jeho skupinou zlodějů, kterou jsem četl. 14. Díl z celé série, ale nebyl problém zorientovat se v postavách a jejich motivech.
Na začátku knihy potká Dortmunder v baru O.J.'s bývalého policistu, který mu nabídne "práci". Dortmunder má získat vzácnou šachovnici ze zlata a diamantů, kterou před 100 lety ukradla krátce po konci 1.světové války skupina vojáků. Jeden z nich si šachovnici nechal pro sebe a prodejem jedné figurky zbohatnul. Syn dalšího člena této skupiny, nyní invalidní důchodce a zároveň milionář se rozhodne, že chce šachovnici pro sebe a ostatní potomky okradených vojáků. Najmul si právě bývalého policajta. Ten má na Dortmundera inkriminujíci materiál a ke splnění úkolu ho donutí vydíráním. Dortmunder zkouší vymyslet nemožnou loupež šachovnice ukryté v trezoru hluboko ve sklepeních banky na Manhattanu. Postupně se k němu přidává i zbytek jeho skupiny a nakonec se jim podaří šachovnici ukrást. Elegantně, bez násilí, dokonce bez výhružek. S pořádnou dávkou štěstí. Nakonec o všechno přijdou, když je obere tulačka, která přespávala v chatě, kde chtěli poklad ukrývat.
Knížka má rychlý spad, krátké kapitoly, které přeskakují mezi jednotlivými postavami a čtenář je pořád zvědav, co se bude dít dál. Plánování loupeže i její provedení je vtipné a hodně připomíná Dannyho parťáky. Kdyby byli Dannyho parťáci trochu troubové.

Skvělá knížka, hned se jdu pustit do celé série od začátku

[RJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Dortmunder, experienced thief and ex-cop Johnny Eppick for hire threaten Dortmunder into doing a job for Eppick’s employer. The specific prize was in a sub-floor bank vault under a sixty-floor bank building. This was impossible to Dortmunder but Eppick had him by the short hairs. Dortmunder needed help and went to his usual crew for assistance. How on earth was he supposed to pull this off? If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain. The story detours to focus on other characters, their backgrounds, and their interest in the prize. Eventually, the tale comes back to Dortmunder and the prize. This is my first experience with Dortmunder and I liked it very much.