Donald E. Westlake, Mystery Writer, Is Dead at 75:
Well, hell. He was one of the greats. His Parker books, written under the name of Richard Stark, are some of my absolute favorites. They're perfect gems, and textbooks on how to write tough, hard-boiled prose.
This is a stunning and heartbreaking loss to crime fiction.
The NY Times obit mentions that one reason Westlake used so many pseudonyms was "to combat skepticism over his rapid rate of writing books, which at some points reached four a year." Pretty sobering thought for those of us who are struggling to get one out a year, huh?
I best get workin'.
Well, hell. He was one of the greats. His Parker books, written under the name of Richard Stark, are some of my absolute favorites. They're perfect gems, and textbooks on how to write tough, hard-boiled prose.
This is a stunning and heartbreaking loss to crime fiction.
The NY Times obit mentions that one reason Westlake used so many pseudonyms was "to combat skepticism over his rapid rate of writing books, which at some points reached four a year." Pretty sobering thought for those of us who are struggling to get one out a year, huh?
I best get workin'.
6 comments:
A hell of a way to start the year. The Parker books were my favorites also.
Damn :(
I love the Parkers - and have started collecting the reprints, but Dortmunder was my favorite.
Dated as it is, my favorite was "The Spy in the Ointment", and having just re-read it, it's amazing to me how well the politics held up. Nothing changes, it seems.
The world is a slightly colder place today.
Well, hell. Ave atque vale.
As many as four books a year? I can hear the ghosts of Isaac Asimov and Louis L'Amour saying "Amateur!" :-)
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