I love that interview and the whole story about Saul Bellow having many Elmore Leonard novels on his bookshelf.

It reminds me of a story about a guy named Michael Polyani who wrote a PhD thesis in Budapest that his professor didn’t feel qualified to judge - so the professor sent it to Albert Einstein who told him, yeah, the guy knows what he’s talking about, give him his degree. I wish a few more lit professors and reviewers would admit they aren’t qualified to judge and give Elmore his Nobel. Or at the very least, a National Book Award.

Amis is right, Elmore Leonard is the “national novelist” of the USA.

Good luck getting lit professors and reviewers to admit they’re unqualified for anything.

You know, for all our talk about the invisible narrator being the superior style/technique, sometimes I think it’s just a different style (the one I prefer) and Elmore happens to be the unquestioned master of it. And that other styles aren’t inferior, just different. I know you think Elmore is being glib when he says things like, “I don’t have the language to do it any different.” But he clearly has mutual respect for Amis, especially if you watch their Charlie Rose discussion, and Amis obviously doesn’t employ the invisible narrator technique. The way he describes it to Charlie Rose, his (Amis) is closer to the poetry end of the spectrum, meant to slow the reader down, and Elmore’s is more fluid, meant to go faster. Who’s to say one is better than the other? Is it not just preferences?

I feel like I can’t objectively answer the question because I’m so biased toward Elmore’s writing.

Oh, and one of my favorite parts of that interview is when he says, “Travolta called me ‘Mr. Leonard.’ And I let him.”

bill_1through4 - 31 December 2008 05:39 PM

Good luck getting lit professors and reviewers to admit they’re unqualified for anything.

You know, for all our talk about the invisible narrator being the superior style/technique, sometimes I think it’s just a different style (the one I prefer) and Elmore happens to be the unquestioned master of it. And that other styles aren’t inferior, just different.

well, Amis has been close to the invisible narrator in books like Money, where he’s felt it’s the way to go. Of course you’re right, it’s just my preference, but it is the right one .

John, could you expand a little on that statement about Money? I think we may have a problem.

It’s easy to get lost in Money and forget it was written by a poncy English dude. It has a consistent voice and you never get pulled out.

I have to admit, though, it’s been a while since I’ve read Amis and I’m not likely to pick up any up soon.

My wife gave me 9 George V. Higgins books for Christmas, though, and they’re keepers. The Friends of Eddie Coyle we already talked about, but here’s something from his second novel, The Digger’s Game, a guy being hired to rob a place:

    “Some guys,” the driver said, starting the Jaguar, “some guys need more’n they have, some guys have more’n they need. It’s just a matter of getting us together, Dig, that’s all it it is.”
...
    “Yeah,” the Digger said, “one and a half down, sixteen and a half to go. Someday, my friend, I’m gonna get smart, and when I do, well, I just hope you can find another guy is all.”
    “Digger,” the driver said as the fat man began to get out, “as long as they keep making women and horses, they’ll always be a guy to find.”