A touchstone is “a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized.”  In The Dutch Forum, the term means a connection that exists in Elmore’s work across the boundaries of a single work.  A touchstone may be a character, a place, a line of dialogue; basically the evolution of the writer’s thought process.

Touchstones were started as a thread suggested by Joel Lyczak in 2002:

By Joel Lyczak on Wednesday, August 14, 2002 - 04:30 pm:
An idea for an addition to the web-site.
Call it: TOUCHSTONES;

A person, event, or something that links one Leonard novel with another

.

Click here to read all 212 posts in the Touchstones Archives which date from August 14, 2002 to November 18, 2004.  They make fascinating reading.  When you have thoroughly examined the Archive, add your new Touchstone to this thread.

Click here to read all posts from March, 2007 to May, 2009.

How many books are referenced in Road Dogs?

Robb, where are you?

MAXIMUM BOB sentenced Foley.  Cundo mentions La Yuma.  Joe Labrava is mentioned.  Karen from OUT OF SIGHT is mentioned.

That is just chapter one. 

Harry Arno from PRONTO and RIDING THE RAP employed the Monk. 

I am just starting to re-read it.  THANKS AGAIN FOR THE ADVANCED READER EDITION.  I read it twice in December, 08.

George Clooney is also mentioned.  That is a real life Touchstone to OUT OF SIGHT!

Go Lakers!!!!!

City Primeval:

—The Oklahoma Wildman used to be a member of the Wrecking Crew. Another member—Louis Nix. Related to Richie (Killshot)?

—A young gunslinger in a Gregory Peck movie is described as “the hotshot kid.” So the phrase was with Elmore at least 30 years before he refined it into the book title.

—Champ was shot by the Wrecking Crew. Champ, in real life, told a guy who’d just held him up he could come back and get his shoe off the front steps. Then shot him as he bent over. (That’s why they call him Champ).

(Elmore heard the story somewhere, I think while researching Impressions of Murder).

More ROAD DOGS Touchstones!  They are too easy.

1)  WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE is referred to as a movie with a good script that hasn’t been produced.

2)  Uncle Cully, Foley’s uncle, from BANDITS is mentioned again (he is also mentioned in OUT OF SIGHT).

3)  The Howling Diablos Band name was used as the gang in A COYOTE’S IN THE HOUSE—they are mentioned in ROAD DOGS.

4)  The LA Gang Squad has scenes in ROAD DOGS, so does BE COOL.  Should not count until we get a better connection.  There has to be a BE COOL or GET SHORTY connection. 

THERE HAS TO BE SOME COOLER ONES!!!!!!  GET TO WORK BOYS!!!!

OUT OF SIGHT
RIDING THE RAP
LABRAVA
PRONTO
BANDITS
WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE
A COYOTE’S IN THE HOUSE
MAXIMUM BOB
“3:10 To Yuma”

Nine books or stories so far!

This is off topic from “Dogs”, but Gregg recently said most of Elmore’s touchstones are from his life. For example, I was re-reading “Impressions of Murder” and Elmore describes that he went on a call with some detectives to a house on St. Mary’s street and there was a “photo of Jesus” in the house. As I recall, Marcus Sweeton had a similar “photo of Jesus” in his house in City Primeval. Thought that was a tocuhstone worth mentioning.

Another non-“Dogs” touchstone: In “Freaky Deaky”, Great Wyatt aka Ginger Jones is recounting an acting gig she had one time when she played “Girl in Bar.” It was a scene filmed in Jacoby’s Bar where she was guessing what a guy did for a living. After several wrong guesses, the guy’s beeper goes off and she says, “I know. You’re a cop.” This scene was right out of “City Primeval” were a woman was guseesing what Raymond Cruz’ partner (Jerry Hunter) did for a living. Believe the scene in City Prime took place in Dunleavy’s Bar.

ROAD DOGS - “The Tonto Woman” - GUNSIGHTS

I forgot about the confession by The Monk in ROAD DOGS.  A classic scene.  The Charlie Rose interview reminded me of it.  The Monk went 27 years between confessions.

It is very similar to the classic confession by Ruben Vega in GUNSIGHTS (mentioned again in “The Tonto Woman”).  Ruben went 37 years between confessions.

Both characters were feeling that their time on earth was ending soon.  One was correct.

“The Tonto Women” version (also in GUNSIGHTS):  Ruben Vega and the priest

“...I have fornicated with many women, maybe eight hundred….”

And the priest would say. “Do you mean bad women or good women?” 

And Ruben Vega would say, “They are all good, Father.”

ROAD DOGS:  The Monk and the priest

“Up to this time you’ve been chaste?”

“You mean, Father, by dudes?  If I like a guy he don’t have to chase me.”

“You’re saying you have relations with men.”

“Almost all my life.”

That’s ten books or stories having TOUCHSTONES with ROAD DOGS.

On page 117 of Road Dogs Jimmy says, “I have a kid in the next office with three screens. He gets real-time numbers from the stock exchanges, New York, Tokyo, the ones that interest me. He’s got bar graphs, charts, spreadsheets…He’s twenty years old. What do you want to know? Ask Gregory.” Thought this may be a shout out to Gregg Sutter.

So “the original Lawman, a cheapjack version of Gunsmoke, ran on ABC during the 1958 to 1962 heyday of Westerns and starred John Russell.”

We know Elmore watched all those western TV shows. He says in interviews that the proliferation of them is what forced him to start writing crime fiction. Anyway, Elmore wrote HOMBRE while the original Lawman was on TV, 1961. It must be more than coincidence that the true name of the show’s star, John Russell, is the name used for HOMBRE’s main character, the half-breed hard-case later portrayed in film, of course, by Paul Newman.

In GET SHORTY, coyotes run wild in the Hollywood Hills. Elmore describes a conversation between two imagined coyotes as they watch people skinny dipping in their backyard pool.

Then a few years ago we get Antwan the coyote, star of his own book, being a stud in the Hollywood Hills.

In GET SHORTY, the name Joe Loop is tossed out by Chili Palmer as a possible screenplay mob guy name.

Joe Loop the hitman is a character in BE COOL. Remember Joe? He chews cole slaw at Cantor’s with his mouth open.

How many books are reference of Road Dogs ?
There are so many book of the Road dogs, But Now a days, It’s not a popular topic. It’s a past of the Arts.

mikealhussy - 10 September 2009 06:44 AM

How many books are reference of Road Dogs ?
There are so many book of the Road dogs, But Now a days, It’s not a popular topic. It’s a past of the Arts.

Check the above posts.  I was able to easily find 10 books.  I am sure there double that.

Bandits:

Why couldn’t Helene go out with Bertie? Cause he’s “too fuckin short.”

This is two books after LaBrava, probably around the time Dustin Hoffman was giving Elmore the runaround.

Then the idea, and the line, were used again in Get Shorty.

(Or was the line itself in Be Cool?)

Armand Degas and Franklin de Dios; same character, different names.