Be Cool

Chili Palmer #2

by Elmore Leonard

Be Cool - bk1155; Penguin Books; Elmore Leonard; pocket_book; 2000

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Humor, Novels, Mystery Thriller

292 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Elmore John Leonard lived in Dallas, Oklahoma City and Memphis before settling in Detroit in 1935. After serving in the navy, he studied English literature at the University of Detroit where he entered a short story competition. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.

Father of Peter Leonard.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Linda’s the real thing, and you know why? Her songs evoke an emotional response that triggers a memory.

Elaine stared at him. “Where’d you get that?”

“My mentor, Hy Gordon.”

Strengths are characters and dialogue. Weakness is the plot.
The movie adaptation is more of a comedy, maybe because some of the cast got better parts, while the book may have a higher body count. Elliot comes across as smarter than he looks, not dumber. And, Elaine, I’m not sure if she even made it into the movie.

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't as impressed with this one. To me it seemed like Elmore Leonard wrote this knowing it would be made into a movie. I just wasn't as drawn in to the story as I was with Get Shorty. The dialogue was exquisitely written as always. Everything else seemed rather bland, unfortunately. Elmore Leonard is still one of my favorites and I look forward to reading more of his books. This one was just slightly off the mark for me. Oh well...on to the next....

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1999, Be Cool is the sequel to Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty Whether it was good vibes or his fans or the money, or all three, Leonard felt compelled to continue the misadventures of Miami Beach loan shark turned film producer Ernest "Chili" Palmer in Los Angeles. The reader is quickly brought up to speed that Chili's movie Get Leo was not only produced but was a hit. As the story goes, the studio moved forward with a sequel, the producer balked, the studio let him come up with a story, he did, it didn't work, the sequel tanked and now our man is back to square one in the business.

Chili is reintroduced at Swinger's Diner in L.A. meeting with Tommy Athens, a guy he grew up with in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn who came to Hollywood and started his own recording label, NTL Records. Athens is a promoter for a punk rocker named Derek Stones who he's trying to break, as well as a gangsta rap act called Ropa-Dope who are closer to gangstas than rappers. He pitches Chili a movie idea based on his rock 'n' roll lifestyle. "You don't have an idea yet," Chili said. "You have a setting, where the idea develops, becomes your plot." He turned to leave and looked back. "You need a girl in it." Before Chili can return to the table, he watches a man step out of a van and fire five shots at Tommy, hitting him once in the head.

Cooperating with a detective for Organized Crime named Darrell Holmes, Chili's priority is coming up with an idea for his next movie, the last in his three picture deal at Tower Pictures, where Elaine Levin, the production head who greenlit Get Leo and who is very partial to Chili, has been hired back. Chili had been working on an idea based on a girl he talked to and tape recorded named Linda Moon, a spunky, aspiring musician from West Texas who answers the phone for the dating service Chili contacted, looking to upgrade his social life. Using Tommy's murder as the opening scene for his movie idea, Chili figures out that Linda Moon might be the key to the plot.

Linda phones the movie producer to let him know she has a show tonight. Elmore Leonard, like a world champion athlete who can coast for weeks and turn the jets on when it counts, really won me over when Linda Moon entered the story.

The tape came to Linda saying she appeared with a girl group called Chicks International whenever they had a gig. Linda, a black chick and an Asian chick, a Vietnamese. They played private parties and clubs around town, the Viper Roon, Spaceland, Jacks Sugar Shack, the Martini Lounge. "Look us up and stop by if you want a few laughs. We're Miki, Viki and Tiki on stage, only on stage. I'm Miki. Viki's the black chick; she used to be a Harlette, backing up Bette Midler. She has to get stoned before we go on. Tiki barely speaks English, she fakes the lyrics. I have to put my mind somewhere else, imagine fires burning in the night. That's how embarrassing it is."

Chili never has and never will know much about music, but is sold on his movie idea being about Linda Moon. He creates his own real-life complication by offering to manage her. Linda's current rep--a Kangol-cap wearing white guy named Raji who struts around like a pimp and travels with a Samoan bodyguard who calls himself Elliot Wilhelm--are notified by Chili in the parking lot that Linda has quit. Chili gets out with his head on by offering Elliot, an aspiring thespian, a screen test. Linda tells Chili her band Odessa ("It's metal with a twang, and if you can imagine that think of AC/DC meets Patsy Cline.") cut a record, but when the label tried to mess with her style, she walked out on her deal, handing back the advance.

More characters enter the picture, all serving as material for Chili and his movie idea. Edie Athens, the departed's widow, has gone from washing laundry for Aerosmith in her youth to inheriting NTL Records, which Chili convinces her to hold onto, hiring the music supervisor from his two pictures, Hy Gordon, to run the business end of. Linda puts Odessa back together, her easy-going guitarist Dale Arden and irascible drummer James "Speedy" Gonzalez arriving in L.A. Chili meets Derek Stones sobering up in Edie's pool in his underwear and tries to tutor the youngster in how to be cool. Derek's mohawked girlfriend Tiffany, NTL's executive assistant, has her head screwed on far tighter than the rocker.

Chili returns to his place to find a dead Russian, shot twice in the back. Detective Holmes has moved on from Edie Athens being a suspect in Tommy's murder and with Chili's help, arrives on a Russian criminal named Roman Bulkin, who Tommy beat up for trying to run an extortion scam on NTL Records. It appears one of Bulkin's men was waiting for Chili to get home and was shot by somebody else who wanted Chili dead. That would be Joe Loop, an old gangland hitman who Raji has hired to bump off Chili. In the middle of all this intrigue, Chili works to give Linda Moon her big break and also becomes romantically involved with Elaine Levin, who's curious where his life begins and his movie idea ends.

Be Cool reminded me of being dragged into a jewelry store at the mall. The merchandise is beautiful. My feet start to hurt a bit standing at the display counter. The service is impeccable but by now, my feet are really starting to get tired. By the time the transaction is finished, I'm happy to get out of there. By the time I reached the end of Be Cool, I'd figured out why, as great a fan as I am of Elmore Leonard, I really didn't cotton to Get Shorty or this sequel.

Chili Palmer is a douchebag.

No, I don't mean John Travolta in the two movies, although opinions vary. I mean that Chili is still measuring virtually every woman he meets in terms of her appearance, what she's wearing, what her temperament is and what her physical features are like. It's no mystery why this guy's wife left him, why Karen Flores (from Get Shorty) has left him and to be honest, why he doesn't seem to have any good friends either. Chili may be cool and he may handle his business, but he's superficial and boxes people into those who can help him and those who can't. I'll give Elmore Leonard credit for writing a believable film producer, but I really didn't find the character of Chili Palmer compelling.

When discussing the genesis of Rum Punch, Leonard has stated that he started out with the character of the bail bondsman, Max Cherry, thinking that guy's line of work has to lead to some interesting situations, but when the character of airline stewardess Jackie Burke (or Jackie Brown in the movie) entered the story, Leonard realized it was about her. For me, personally, when Linda Moon entered the story, I thought it should be about her, one way or another. Chili was a supporting player with a colorful background and eccentric habit of staging real-life situations for the movie idea he's working on in his head, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time with him. I wanted Linda!



No! I did not see this character as being anything like Christina Milian on the page. I'm not sure where the producers of Be Cool were coming from in 2004. I saw Linda Moon a lot more like this:



Carey Mulligan. One is a girl and the other is a woman. One is Latoya Jackson and the other is Janet. The casting session I'm holding in my head has nothing to do with my opinion of the novel. I guess I just got carried away.

Where Elmore Leonard surpasses Get Shorty was his across the board portrayal of female characters. Each of them has moxie and much more going for them than what they can do for Chili Palmer. In addition to Linda Moon, who struts into the story in control, each of the female characters, from Edie Athens to Tiffany to Linda's former bandmate Vita, are given a real voice and something to do in the story, which I often did not find with Karen Flores in Get Shorty. Chili's relationship with Elaine Levin, which segues from professional to intimate, is handled with a great deal of sweetness. The pair have chemistry, and the way that Leonard describes Elaine seems based on a woman he met and was in love with.

She shrugged in the loose cotton sweater, looking away and back again. The jeans surprised him. At the studio she wore suits and pushed the sleeves up; he'd watch her walk around the office barefoot talking and smoking, going over to her giant ashtray to stub out a cigarette, walk away and the cigarette would still be burning. She was the girl who ran production at a major studio and she was respected. At home she was a softer version. Looking at him with calm brown eyes.

I never felt tension that something bad might befall Chili Palmer/ John Travolta. That's not really Elmore Leonard's fault; I was just too familiar with the movies to be really surprised by anything that happened on the page. Chili waltzes through the story, acting cool, a former wiseguy reading the riot act to various Hollywood types who only know from the mob what they've seen in Scorsese movies. It's haltingly fun and the dialogue is excellent, but I think that Chili is in many ways the least interesting character in these books. I would not recommend anyone who I might have tempted to give Elmore Leonard a try start with these two books.

Here's my list of Elmore Leonard novels ranked from favorite to least favorite:

1. Stick (1983)
2. Killshot (1989)
3. Pronto (1993)
4. Be Cool (1999)
5. Get Shorty (1990)
6. LaBrava (1983)

[James Thane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miami loan shark-turned movie producer, Chili Palmer returns in this sequel to Get Shorty. In the time that has elapsed between the two books, Chili has produced two movies. The first, "Get Leo," was a success. The second, "Get Lost," was a flop. Chili has one movie left to make on his contract, and he's desperately in search of an idea that will put him back on top.

As the book opens, Chili is having lunch with Tommy Athens, an old friend from Brooklyn. Athens is now in the music business and owns his own label, NTL Records. Chili gets up to go to the restroom, and while he is away from the table, a gunman enters the restaurant and shoots Athens to death. Chili sees in this turn of events the beginning of a plot for his third film. And as an ancillary part of the plan, He also decides to go into the music business.

Over the course of the novel, Chili will get involved with a variety of odd characters, including a pimp, a gay Samoan bodyguard, and any number of musicians and other people who hope to make it big in the music business. The plot is very thin and serves only as a frame upon which to hang a number of scenes, some of which are better than others. The dialogue is snappy, but usually in an Elmore Leonard novel, it seems organic and flows beautifully. Here it sometimes feels like Leonard is straining a bit and is not in his usual rhythm.

Be Cool is an amusing entertainment, but for me it falls short of the author's best work and is not the equal of Get Shorty. Perhaps this is because Leonard seemed to have a much better handle on the movie business than he does on the music business. He also had some scores to settle in the first book, which gave it a heft that is not present here. Get Shorty was, to my mind a smart and funny novel. Be Cool is funny but not nearly as smart.

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars for Be Cool: Chili Palmer, Book 2 (audiobook) by Elmore Leonard read by Campbell Scott. This was the first time I’ve listen to this story. I’ve seen the movie a bunch of times and it’s a favorite of mine. It was really interesting to see how the Hollywood writers made changes to the story for the big screen. I guess I’m a little surprised how close it is to the movie. So many of the key scenes and dialogue was in the book. Sorry Elmore Leonard I think I like the story better with the changes. They add a level of humor that’s not in the book.

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Story Of Linda Moon

Set in Hollywood, Elmore Leonard's novel "Be Cool" is a sequel ten years removed from his novel "Get Shorty". Although I haven't yet read the earlier book or the films made from each book, I have been reading a good deal of Leonard. The works I have read are set in Harlan, Kentucky, Detroit, Florida, the Arizona territory, and now Hollywood. Leonard is able to capture something of the places and cultures he describes.

I didn't find it necessary to know "Get Shorty" before reading this book, but it is important to know that "Be Cool" is a sequel, featuring the same main character, Chili Palmer, a former loan shark from Florida and Brooklyn who has managed to evade criminal prosecution and made a life for himself in Hollywood in the movies. His first film, "Get Leo" was a success but its sequel, "Get Lost" failed. Chili is looking for ideas for a third movie. There is a mirroring in Leonard's novel as it too is a sequel to an earlier successful novel and film.

The scene is set in the quick-moving opening chapter which takes a couple of readings to come clear. An old partner in crime, Tommy, approaches Chili suggesting that Chili make Tommy's life the basis for a movie. Alas, Tommy is immediately gunned-down. Much of the rest of the book involves finding the killer. Chili wants to use life as the basis for art and seeks in reality the characters that will drive his film. He also wants a woman involved. Chili is something of a manipulator who tries to control events in a way that will make an effective story portrayed on screen.

The woman in this case goes by the name of Linda Moon. Chili has heard her voice as she works setting up matches for a dating service and he becomes entranced. Linda is also a singer who has fallen on rough times in a competitive business.

The book is a bit too long and cumbersome. The reader has to keep straight the search for Tommy's killer, Chili's ongoing plans for his film, his love and sexual interests, Linda's efforts to establish her musical career, and a host of sub-themes and stories of violence. The book also includes a host of characters, many of whom are well-developed including besides Chili and Linda, characters from the film and music industries, Russian thugs, and a Samoan body guard for one of the many crooked characters in the story.

While Chili is the nominal main character, Linda Moon is the focus of the book. Leonard shows a great deal about her, beginning with her days as a child in west Texas to her love of singing and composing her own songs. Linda sings a mix of rock and country with light accompaniment and is shown as having artistic integrity for her style of music. Linda is also driven by ambition and the desire to make it big-time in popular music. She has a small band called Odessa which must change its name because it is already used by other groups. And so we have another play on words and on things as the band becomes known as the Linda Moon. The novel discusses the compromises an artist must make in the pursuit of success. Linda Moon, her music and her dreams come to life in this book.The seamy. thuggish side of the music business also gets a great deal of attention as well. in this book. In addition to Linda Moon, the novel includes several other strong female characters, particularly Elaine, Chili's producer at the studio and a possible love interest.

The humor of the book is sharp and the plot takes many surprising twists with a great deal of mayhem and violence. Some of the broader themes of the book including the relationship between life and art and the search for love pass easily under all the banter and crime. The character development, dialogue, and setting more than make up for the sometimes cumbersome plotting. I enjoyed this book and want to read more of Elmore Leonard.

Robin Friedman

[Trevor Wiltzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elmore Leonard is one of my favorite authors. His dialogue is spot on and within a single page, and without even a physical description of his characters, you can picture his hero and villains — their mannerisms, their looks, their styles — by what they say and how they say it. By the end of the first page, the author has dropped me so deep into his character's world, every time, I read on with my imagination on fire.

I will always be a student of his writing.

In Be Cool, his reformed gangster and now film producer, Chili Palmer, who starred in his other novel Get Shorty, is now back being down on his luck in Hollywood. While Chili's first picture was a hit (Get Shorty), his second was a studio hack job, and Chili was forced to cash in on it as the Hollywood execs cashed out. While determined not to avoid the same mistakes for his third picture, he is in the tricky situation of a film producer and writer without an idea. But fortunately, he has the swagger and confidence to ride it out. Elmore Leonard, the author, then infuses Chili with a writing process in an art imitates life situation. Like his character, Elmore Leonard is not one to focus on plot. He is a character writer at heart. But once he knew who his lead was, he would then throw situations at them and write about how they would react. One scene would move onto the next in a seemingly natural, devil may care style, but it allowed the character's actions to drive the story than vice versa. It's a writing style I love myself. It makes the characters seem more real and the story more integrated and believable. Although I am sure Elmore Leonard did not have the swagger of a Chilli Palmer, this much-beloved book (and movie) was Elmore's way to showcase his particular writing style. Start with the characters, set up a scene and write. I am sure the plot twists were as much a surprise to the author as they were to the characters (and readers), as Elmore, like Chili, just let the story play out.

I could go on, but it's best to read his books and find out for yourself. He wrote forty-seven novels — and while I am probably only halfway through the list, I love to re-read them. He is that good.

Check it out.

[Larry Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be Cool by Elmore Leonard is the follow-up to Get Shorty and its lead character. Chili Palmer, Miami loanshark turned Hollywood film producer and Get Shorty becomes Get Leo -a big hit. The sequel, Get Lost is a flop. Chili is on the prowl for his next film story….

Scene one. “AT ONE of the sidewalk tables at Swingers, on the side of the coffee shop along Beverly Boulevard: Chili Palmer with the Cobb salad and iced tea, Tommy Athens the grilled pesto chicken and a bottle of Evian.”

Chili’s explains his approach. "You don't want to tell something you're thinking about, hear it out loud yourself for the first time, unless you know what it's gonna sound like. It has to have an edge, an attitude.” — “So you have to know your characters, I mean intimately-Once you know who they are they let you know what the story is." — "What I'm saying, I don't think of a plot and then put characters in it. I start with different characters and see where they take me."

Next Scene…. Chili goes to the men’s room —Tommy gets popped. Chili sees the shooter- a little guy, maybe 50, with a toupee. And the shooter see Chili see him. Chili thinks yeh, this is the story for my next movie…

“THE PHONE RANG as he was preparing a couple of Lean Cuisines for his supper, the Chicken à l'Orange and the Chicken Piccata. "You're still alive." He recognized her voice, his old pal Elaine Levin, back at Tower Studios as head of production. — "But now you see the titles over Tommy getting shot?" "Over Tommy having lunch with a girl who wants to make it as a singer. Tommy likes her, he's her big chance to do a record and he gets popped." "So how does she become a star?" "I don't know if she does. But listen, I want to send you a tape. Remember the girl with the dating service I told you about? Talks to lonely guys all day?" "Vaguely." "She's the singer, Linda Moon. She has an attitude you'll love."

Linda Moon. “Linda was the star. She had the talent, she had the cool expression on her face, like a good stripper who doesn't overdo it, just gives you enough of a come-on. — Chili, on a stool shaped like a martini glass, sipped dark beer. He'd stare at Linda and catch her looking at him, glancing over —throwing her pelvis his way on "Who Do You Think You Are," a pretty good song, Linda giving him the bumps till she turned and got in step with the black chick again. If she saw him on Charlie Rose she knew him, though she didn't smile or give him any kind of sign — She put her hand on his shoulder getting up on the stool next to his, saying, "What do you think?" 'Who Do You Think You Are' and 'I'm Giving You Everything.' Those're good songs." 'I'm giving you everything,' " Linda said, "is the chorus. The song is 'Say You'll Be There.' — I won't do 'Mama,' if you know that one. I won't rap, point at the crowd or kick, do that Kung-Fu shit." — "If what you're doing puts you in a shitty mood and you hate it anyway, why don't you quit?" "I signed a contract." "That's all that's keeping you?" "It's the guy I signed with, Raji, our manager. He goes, 'You quit me, girl, you find yourself in serious trouble.' Chili said, "You want me to speak to him?" It stopped her and now she took her time. "You mean get me out of the contract?" "Yeah, tell him you quit.” "He has a company or what?" "Raji's part of Car-O-Sell Entertainment, Artists Management and Promotion. They handle Roadkill, the band that was on before us? And a few others. Raji does the managing, if you can call it that, and a guy who looks like a gangster, Nick Car, does the promoting." "He is a gangster," Chili said, "or was. Nick Carcaterra” —"He's there now, with Miss Saigon." Chili looked over. "The big guy?" "That's Elliot, Raji's bodyguard. He's Samoan." Built like one of those giant Samoans you saw, this one going at least two-sixty in his tanktop, a do-rag down on his eyebrows, thick black hair to his huge shoulders. Chili said, "Elliot, uh?" — "Vita says he's from Compton. She told me he's part Samoan and part colored—I mean African-American. She doesn't use the word colored. And he's gay." "A gay bodyguard?" "Vita says he did time in prison, in Hawaii, and found out he likes guys." —“Raji's the other one," Linda said, "the dude." Putting his arm around the shoulders of the Asian chick, Raji a head taller than the girl, but a little kid next to the Samoan. He did have a confident way about him, his pose, letting you know he was the man.” — Linda put her hand on his arm. "You know you don't have to do this." He turned to her, a little surprised. "We want to find out what happens next, don't we?" "I forgot," Linda said, "you're using me. I'm an idea for a movie." Chili said, "We're using each other."

Ok you got the lead characters and the setup to the story/movie/book. Elmore had a lot of fun putting this together. Read it you’ll see…

One more scene. "You want to try again?" "Are you serious?" "Nothing wrong with trying." Elaine opened the drawer of the night table, felt around inside and turned with two white tablets in her hand. "Take one." "What is it, an upper?" "A breath mint."

Be Cool.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continuation of the Chili Palmer saga as begun in Get Shorty. Elmore Leonard in Be Cool does for Los Angeles what he had done in other novels for Detroit and Miami. The idea of a loan shark from Miami becoming a movie and record producer is basically a good one.

I probably liked the Chili Palmer films by Barry Sonnenfeld as much as I liked the books, probably even a little more.

Still, there were some interesting bits about the character of Linda Moon which didn't come across in the film, so I'd have to say that book or movie was a pretty close call.

[Brian Fagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you sometimes read a passage over and over, not because it sounds good, but because it sounds wrong? I had a moment like that in Elmore Leonard's Be Cool. It is the sequel to Get Shorty and was written in 1999. Chili Palmer is back, living dangerously and using his current real-life experiences as a setting for the screenplay he is putting together. So much so that the novel is constructed in large portions as if Chili is narrating his movie screenplay as his life is unfolding. So we have a book character telling us his life and imagining actors doing what is happening as scenes in a movie. I don't think I've seen that before.

The scene that made no sense was this: Chili is at the late Tommy Athens' office with an associate and Tommy's widow and they are looking at his financial records to see if Tommy's company has potential. Chili's associate thinks the books have been "cooked" to impress potential clients. Tommy's widow remembers he keeps a set of financial records at home, too. The associate says if they don't show a different financial picture, "we're out of business before we start". Huh? The books at home would be financially worse, not better!

Anyway, in this story, Chili had met Tommy for lunch to float an idea about a movie sequel. A car pulls up to the outdoor cafe and a gunman kills Tommy. Is Chili shocked? Disheartened? Scared for his life? No, he decides what just happened will make a perfect opening scene for the movie. He finds a struggling young singer, Linda Moon, and feels that her story could work for the film. But he needs to find out more about the music business in L. A., so he learns the business from a promoter, and tells Linda's agent that he will be managing her now. Before long, he has made enemies of her agent, her agent's goon, the police, the Russian mafia and a badass hip-hop rapper's gang. But it's all good to Chili, because hey, whatever happens is potential fodder for the movie.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elmore Leonard pisses me off because he writes so well that, in my nimble mind, the task of writing a novel seems to be a no-brainer. I DO know better. Leonard is so much fun to read because he's so easy to read. That's not to say his writing is simple, far from it. He just does it so well, with a perfect flow to dialogue and exposition. Be Cool is the continued adventures of Chili Palmer and the usual cast of miscreants. Have fun.

[Kandice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I like this more because of the reader (Campbell Scott) than the story. When I stop listening and go about my day, I try to think about the plot and what is going on in the tale. It just isn't that great. I get back in the car, turn it on and am immediately sucked in. Scott's voice is just so lovely. It's deep and a bit throaty. He doesn't "do" voices, but somehow you always know when a woman is talking. To me, that's the real mark of a great reader.

It's a bit unfair to Leonard that I've reviewed his narrator and not his book. This is the sequel to Get Shorty and is only interesting because Chili Palmer is the star. "Look at me..." I love when Chili says that! I try not to, but I see Chili as Travolta in my mind. The young, thin, beautiful Travolta, like he was in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, but with a great haircut and clothes. I may drool for a sec here.

Anyway, the characters are what make this worth the effort. The plot is sort of lame, but Elaine as Chili's love interest is every bit as interesting as Chili himself. I almost wish Leonard would have gone on to write some Who Dunnits with Chili and Elaine as the Tommy and Tuppence of the series. I'd read those!

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chilli Palmer #2: Sequel to 'Get Shorty'… same sort of idea, the ongoing action in and around promoting a singer is being often set-up, manipulated and or managed so that Chilli can mine the events for a screenplay. A supposed dark comedy that never really gets to be comedic or that dark! 4 out of 12.

[Sean Carlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy, colorful characters and crisp dialogue -- Elmore Leonard's stock-in-trade -- can't redeem this needless Get Shorty sequel, which doesn't seem to know if wants to be a satire of the movie or music business, or even a metafictional spoof of the first book. If it aspires to be any or all of those things, it fails to realize its creative ambitions.

For those who care to follow it -- I really struggled to maintain interest as the story went on, despite the book's breezy pace and relatively slim page count -- Be Cool certainly has a plot, but not much of a point. Whatever Leonard was going for here, this shallow sequel never evolves into a worthwhile story in its own right. "Be cool"? If only. Chili Palmer was much cooler the first time around.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Chili Palmer says it himself in this one, his own sequel: “A sequel has to be better’n the original or it’s not gonna work.” And I don’t know that it’s better than Shorty, but it’s sure about as much fun.

In fact, the only thing denting this one is that in between the two, I watched the movie Get Shorty. Travolta is a love-him-or-hate-him kind of actor, I think, and I lean towards the latter. He was so not the Chili in my mind and I wish I didn't have to work so hard in this one to picture anyone else but him. In other words, back to the Chili I liked.

But that’s all my problem, not the book’s. From the looks of it, I’ll steer clear of the movie Be Cool, thank you very much. Which, funny enough, looks to prove the thesis here: once the machine of Hollywood gets its teeth in something, sit back and laugh at how much gets botched.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Elmore Leonard at his best. This is the only book I ever bought twice because I lost the first copy and needed it to reread all the great Chili Palmer lines. The scene with the rock star floating in the pool and trying to threaten Chili, is one of the greatest fictional scenes in literature. "Is that really what you want to say?"

[Krystelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a ride, and one that I knew was meant to be satirical and bizarre, but it was still really not my thing. It was very sexed up and odd, and I just couldn’t cope with the narrative style and how disjointed it appeared to be. I got what it was trying to do but it just wasn’t my jam.

[Verge Noir · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 out of 5

For a fun breezy read from the master of the Crime Fiction genre Mr. Elmore Leonard (RIP)

Chili ‘look at me’ Palmer, the ex-wise guy (okay so he was ‘loosely connected’) ex-loan shark from Brooklyn by way of Miami Beach, is in Los Angeles now where he has re-invented himself as a movie producer whose in dire need of material for a new film project. And he gets one; at a lunch meeting with a shady record producer which opens the book with a bang.

Intrigued by this music business thing, he meets a lovely and talented singer by the name of Linda Moon who wants to be in a band of what she describes as a ‘rock ‘n roll with a twang’ thing, but she can’t follow this dream because she’s currently in another band under contract for a pimp by the name of Raji doing Spice Girls covers (This and many other pop culture touch stones’ like CD’s, MTV music videos, etc. Makes the book feel a bit dated)

Soon enough Chili becomes the target of the Russian mob, the pimp and his 250 pound gay Samoan bodyguard by the name of Elliot Wilhelm whom for some reason is in the habit of arching his eyebrows. Amid such hostile environment Chili keeps his cool and wits about him. He’s like a talkative version of a hero in a Sergio Leone Western.

This is a fun, breezy read and—as always—Elmore has a way of delivering huge chunks of the plot by way of witty dialog like nobody else in the business. Whenever I’m in need of inspiration in my own ‘literary’ endeavors I always turn to the works of Elmore Leonard for a jolt of inspiration. Which reminds me I should re-read: Tishomingo Blues, City Primeval, Hombre, La Brava…etc., etc., etc.

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elmore Leonard makes it so real you think you couldn’t write it without knowing the scene personally. For dialogue, you have electric lines. Leonard’s up there with Parker and Nero Wolf, maybe even the top guys, or at least close - Hammett and Chandler.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy, amusing read, but something of a time-waster as there were no lessons to be learned, no personal insight to be shared, nothing memorable. Soooo not my scene.

[Asghar Abbas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than its movie but more racist and somehow still about movies. Music part plays a small role.
Both had huge Samoans.

[Sincere W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesus, if I'm ever able to write dialogue this well I can die a happy man.

This is a fun read, full of interesting characters and very funny scenes. There's Shylocks, gay Samoans, rappers, music execs and a healthy dose of gangsters. The characters develop in unexpected yet logical ways. And the interactions between characters is crisp and authentic.

The story concept - if that's what you'd call it - is damn clever, too. The main character, Chili Palmer is putting together what's to be his third movie, and this the backbone of the book's plot. Palmer's creative process flows along with the story, so that "actual events" in the book become possible scenes for Palmer's upcoming flick. It made reading the book feel like having a magician explain the trick while he's doing it - and still finding yourself amazed.

I haven't read this book's prequel (Get Shorty). But I was never lost or confused; Be Cool stands on it's own. And the small segments of backstory are so well integrated as to be invisible.

Great story. Looking forward to reading it again.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize when picking this up (another book sale cheapo) that it was the sequel to Get Shorty, which I don't think I've ever read or seen. (I kept being bothered by the idea of Travolta as Chili Palmer, though that must be the role he plays.) Even as I figured it out, though, I decided to read it anyway. It certainly looked like it could stand on its own.

And for the most part, it did. Fast plot, fast characters, fast action, fast read.

Which is basically the problem. Even though billed as the master of contemporary crime fiction, Leonard has no substance in Be Cool. I need to look through my older lists to see what of his I've read -- I seemed to think he was more satire, less face value. But I couldn't find any more than what was on the surface.

Blink and you miss it.

[Amanda Stevens]

Why I Stopped Reading on p. 50: Apparently Leonard is hit and miss for me. I love the character Raylan Givens (the TV show Justified being how I discovered this author in the first place), and I've enjoyed a couple others of his, when I'm in the mood for an over-the-top caper of violence and tension and cool dialogue. But none of the characters here, least of all Chili himself, make me want to keep reading. And though Leonard's craft is always good, my TBR shelf is too crowded to press onward with this one.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

The return of the charming thug Chili Palmer does what too many sequels do by capturing some of the spirit of the original but not much else. Although this is a pleasant enough jaunt with Chili using his magic on the music industry this time, the story is too much of a retread. What was once surprising and innovative is now too familiar. My expectations were perhaps too high, but this is just a merely adequate thriller with paint-by-numbers background characters.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd put it in 'summer beach read' category. Again Chili P is working on a movie idea and everyone he comes across (and manipulates?) is a potential character or scene. But everything is a scene, no action happens, Chili usually is just describing (talking, talking, talking) to someone what happened. I won't say the ending, but it summed up how I felt about the book - no real story.

[Bob Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the book, Liked the character Chili Palmer as a Movie producer/ former gangster who uses his under world skills to get around in the shady world of crime thugs And make situations better for the other under dog characters in the book that he encounters while moving thru the movie making and music record business.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be Cool (Chili Palmer #2) by Elmore Leonard (Delacorte Press 1999) (Fiction - Thriller). This is the sequel to Get Shorty, and it is a movie about sequels. Chili Palmer is a Hollywood rewrite man, but the cards are stacked against him. My rating: 7/10, finished 1/1/2011.

[Yong Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

‪Elmore Leonard's Be Cool: Chili Palmer is looking for the next big thing, but has to survive a United Nation of gangsters looking for a cut.‬

[Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alternative Music

In questo secondo capitolo, Chili Palmer resta nel mondo del Cinema sfruttando quello della Musica.
Come nel primo, anche qui parte da una semplice idea che gli si forma in testa e poi improvvisa per riuscire ad avere una sceneggiatura interessante.
Trova Linda, una cantante 'alternativa', e dopo averla 'liberata' dal suo attuale impresario, Raji, decide di farla diventare una nuova stella del panorama musicale.

Le cose non sono proprio così semplici, Raji non ci sta farsi mettere i piedi in testa, e mette i bastoni tra le ruote a Chili, che però, grazie ad una mente ingegnosa, riesce a pilotare le situazioni a suo vantaggio.

Lettura a tratti divertente, con alcuni personaggi sopra le righe a dare un tocco di colore.
Questo è il terzo romanzo che leggo di Leonard, ma non è ancora riuscito a farmi innamorare di lui o delle sue storie.