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Jack LeVine #1
The Big Kiss-Off of 1944: A Jack LeVine Mystery
The tense hustle of wartime New York provides the background for some tough investigation as the indomitable gumshoe Jack LeVine takes on a nasty case involving a chorus girl, blackmail, several scattered corpses, presidential politics, and some dirty business that could change the course of the war."Bergman, who knows the private-eye genre...has created his own specimen named Jack LeVine....He is tough, wisecracking, lonely, determined, smart as the next man - the exemplar of the species." -The New York Times Book Review"It is without doubt the nearest thing to genuine Chandler I've ever come across....Tough, witty - very witty - and a beautiful eye for period detail, which makes it a smashing read." -Jack Higgins"A fine piece of invention, written with great energy and humanity and style." -Ross Macdonald
194 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
13 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Bergman
13 books9 followersAndrew Bergman is a successful comedy screenwriter and occasional author of hard-boiled mysteries. After receiving a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bergman sold Tex X, a novella about a black sheriff in the old west, to Warner Brothers. The studio hired him to turn his story into a screenplay, as part of a team of comedy legends led by Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor. The result was Blazing Saddles (1974), which is widely regarded as one of the funniest films of all time.
After that early success, Bergman published the first two novels in a mystery series starring Jack LeVine, a hard-boiled Jewish PI. After The Big Kiss-Off of 1944 (1974) and Hollywood and LeVine (1975), he continued writing and directing films, producing such classics as Fletch (1985), The Freshman (1990) and Soapdish (1991). In 2001 he returned to LeVine in Tender Is LeVine. Bergman continues to live and write in New York City.
After that early success, Bergman published the first two novels in a mystery series starring Jack LeVine, a hard-boiled Jewish PI. After The Big Kiss-Off of 1944 (1974) and Hollywood and LeVine (1975), he continued writing and directing films, producing such classics as Fletch (1985), The Freshman (1990) and Soapdish (1991). In 2001 he returned to LeVine in Tender Is LeVine. Bergman continues to live and write in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 25, 2018
The Big Kiss-Off of 1944 is the first book in the Jack Levine trilogy written by Andrew Bergman, probably best known as a scriptwriter of comic movies, including being a co-author of Blazing Saddles. Here, Bergman trains his comic eye on the hardboiled private investigator, with Levine being a wise-cracking PI in the mould of Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe, taking a case for a leggy blonde who’s being blackmailed. Rather than simply playing the trope for laughs, Bergman writes a very nicely plotted tale of blackmail/murder meets high stakes/low morals politics that has a series of well-judged turns as Levine finds himself progressive out of his depth but determined to stay true to his original quest. The characters are nicely penned and their interchanges are well observed and there’s a nice sense of time and place. Overall, an engaging and compelling hardboiled PI tale with plenty of dark humour.
July 9, 2023
A genuinely funny exercise in hard-boiled style.
April 24, 2015
Review To Follow
July 29, 2024
Set in the WWII 40's, written in the Watergate 70's, when detective fiction enjoyed a renaissance, this book is full of wonderful wisecracks. Maybe it's a little too self-conscious, and too smutty for my tastes. But it is very clever. The author also has enjoyed a successful, if intermittent Hollywood screenwriting career, most notably penning the all-time classic Blazing Saddles.
The plot has to do with the daughter of a prominent banker (and significant contributer to the Republicans) being blackmailed by sources unknown. She had made a mistake earlier in her life and her father was having the squeeze put on him. In the course of his investigation, Private Peeper Jack LeVine tracks the corruption all the way up to FDR's staff. And interestingly for the events happening in Washington near the time it was written, the Democrats are portrayed as the far more nefarious group in this book.
The plot was refreshingly large in scope but at times unconvincing. It seems unlikely LeVine could get away with much of the stuff he does here. And the ending was somehow pat. The mystery elements were lacking after the halfway-point, making it play out somehow flatly. These are not necessarily meant to be harsh criticisms; I liked the book. It just didn't follow the form exactly, that's all. Because this sort of thing must, of course, be compared to Chandler. Bergman himself would probably encourage the association.
And it comes close sometimes. But this lacks the depth, substituting pith for real feeling. Here the attitude is put on like a shoulder holster. Chandler was writing from his heart, to come to grips with a world that seemed unspeakably cruel to him. Any humor injected was not the point, but a bonus. BK-Oof1944 is foremost comedy, attached to the PI skeleton to give LeVine opportunity to utilize the one-liners that make it so. The result is lots of fun, but nowhere near the classic status of the novels it tries hard to be like.
P.S. This is much better than either of its sequels to date.
The plot has to do with the daughter of a prominent banker (and significant contributer to the Republicans) being blackmailed by sources unknown. She had made a mistake earlier in her life and her father was having the squeeze put on him. In the course of his investigation, Private Peeper Jack LeVine tracks the corruption all the way up to FDR's staff. And interestingly for the events happening in Washington near the time it was written, the Democrats are portrayed as the far more nefarious group in this book.
The plot was refreshingly large in scope but at times unconvincing. It seems unlikely LeVine could get away with much of the stuff he does here. And the ending was somehow pat. The mystery elements were lacking after the halfway-point, making it play out somehow flatly. These are not necessarily meant to be harsh criticisms; I liked the book. It just didn't follow the form exactly, that's all. Because this sort of thing must, of course, be compared to Chandler. Bergman himself would probably encourage the association.
And it comes close sometimes. But this lacks the depth, substituting pith for real feeling. Here the attitude is put on like a shoulder holster. Chandler was writing from his heart, to come to grips with a world that seemed unspeakably cruel to him. Any humor injected was not the point, but a bonus. BK-Oof1944 is foremost comedy, attached to the PI skeleton to give LeVine opportunity to utilize the one-liners that make it so. The result is lots of fun, but nowhere near the classic status of the novels it tries hard to be like.
P.S. This is much better than either of its sequels to date.
August 23, 2018
While going through the so so so so many books of hard and paperback in the house, I found two novels by Andrew Bergman who later went on to write THE IN-LAWS, SO FINE, THE FRESHMAN, and was a writer of BLAZING SADDLES. He wrote 3 detective novels featuring a Jewish private eye named Jack LeVine. The first takes place in New York circa 1944 and has its moments of tough guy patter and a case involving blackmail, politics, and a couple of murders. It is a bit light hearted and concludes with a serio-comic chase of sorts in Radio City Music Hall. It's a breeze of a read and look forward to reading the 2nd where it appears he re-locates to Hollywood. I had read these years ago, but time erases some memories. I guess that's why we own books ... to re-read and re-enjoy.
June 5, 2022
This one started as an excellent neo-Chandler HB tale, with the noble PI investigating a standard sleazy blackmail plot at the behest of the usual distressed damsel. The narrative captures much of the Chandler essence without being a slavish imitation. All goes well, until the PI uncovers the Abusurdly Unbelievable Parties behind the plot and their Absofuckinglutely Idotic Motives. I'm willing to stretch my credulity a bit, but not this far. Even little green men would have been better, a lot better.
October 17, 2022
Not a bad book, but nothing to really distinguish it from so many others. Jack is the cliche detective with a wise mouth. The dialogue seems forced and while sometimes good doesn't quite make the historical noir scale for me. Story is ok but almost slides into slapstick in a few cases - I guess I'm looking for more serious works rather than wanting to find purposely inserted comic moments. I've got a couple others in this series so I'm still open minded about him...
April 24, 2024
This book was so much fun. Written in the style of a hard-nose detective. A classic sort of mystery. Jack Levine is hired to recover some porn films from a Broadway actress and gets mixed up in a political election. a very fun read!
January 23, 2021
This is kind of a noir revival nostalgia piece but its really funny and the story is pretty good. I wouldnt say the plot is great, but the way its told is good enough.
September 1, 2024
A pretty fun private detective novel. Inspired by the best examples. Lots of good dialog and period detail.
November 1, 2024
Funny tough guy is a private detective who gets involved in a political scandal that gets awfully confusing but I still liked the book.
December 13, 2013
Jacob "Jack" Levine is not your regular fictional private eye. He's Jewish, middle aged, and bald. He has a lady friend with a "friends with benefits" arrangement. The line goes : "I even took my socks off. In my circles, that;s class."
Still, he's not immune to the fairer sex.
So when the leggy blonde came in one morning with a problem, Jack was more than ready to help. She had a bit role in a play on Broadway, just having moved from the chorus line, and her problem was blackmail!
It seems when she was on the west coast trying to make it in the movies and in need of money, she'd had a moment of indiscretion and had made a couple of stag films. Now someone was demanding money and promising to tell the show's producer and she needed the job so bad!
Jack got a twenty dollar retainer from her and said he'd see what he could do.
He soon finds himself in over his head.
A dead body turns up, the producer calls and is being blackmailed as well. He knows there's a girl in the show who's made stag films, but not who, and wants Jack to make the pay-off, twenty thousand. Another dead body, his first client disappears and Jack figures out she's more than she seemed(he knew she'd not told him everything), someone is taking shots at him and sending goons by his home, and politics enter the picture, going all the way to the highest office in the land.
I liked this P.I. novel and I have a second one I will get to shortly.
Still, he's not immune to the fairer sex.
So when the leggy blonde came in one morning with a problem, Jack was more than ready to help. She had a bit role in a play on Broadway, just having moved from the chorus line, and her problem was blackmail!
It seems when she was on the west coast trying to make it in the movies and in need of money, she'd had a moment of indiscretion and had made a couple of stag films. Now someone was demanding money and promising to tell the show's producer and she needed the job so bad!
Jack got a twenty dollar retainer from her and said he'd see what he could do.
He soon finds himself in over his head.
A dead body turns up, the producer calls and is being blackmailed as well. He knows there's a girl in the show who's made stag films, but not who, and wants Jack to make the pay-off, twenty thousand. Another dead body, his first client disappears and Jack figures out she's more than she seemed(he knew she'd not told him everything), someone is taking shots at him and sending goons by his home, and politics enter the picture, going all the way to the highest office in the land.
I liked this P.I. novel and I have a second one I will get to shortly.
December 5, 2010
This author wrote Blazing Saddles. His sense of humor carries the story.
April 28, 2015
Told as a noir story, with funny wisecracks. Broadway chorine gets blackmailed for having made smutty movies, but it turns into much bigger blackmail, with the original blackmailers getting offed.
June 6, 2015
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Fun read…granted, repetitive caricature based on repetitive cliché and exaggeration, but all of that is required for the existence of this book's humorous overtones…try it, you'll like it…
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Fun read…granted, repetitive caricature based on repetitive cliché and exaggeration, but all of that is required for the existence of this book's humorous overtones…try it, you'll like it…
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June 14, 2016
A remendous lack of rhythm. It's a shame that the best moments, like the radio city chase, gets screwed by uninteresting details.
Want to read
October 3, 2018Synopsis: PI Jack LeVine takes on a case involving blackmail, corpses, and presidential politics during WW 2.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews