Parker - 18 May 2009 02:12 PM

In an interview with King, Published in the USA Weekend in March, 2009, the author stated,

“People look on writers that they like as an irreplaceable resource. I do. Elmore Leonard, every day I wake up and—not to be morbid or anything, although morbid is my life to a degree—don’t see his obituary in the paper, I think to myself, “Great! He’s probably working somewhere. He’s gonna produce another book, and I’ll have another book to read.” Because when he’s gone, there’s nobody else.”[35]

Gregg put the Stephen King Review of ROAD DOGS on the website.  Parker found a great quote by Stephen King about Mr. Leonard.

GLITZ was reviewed by Stephen King in 1985.  It is posted below.  Any thoughts on why Mr. King adores Mr. Leonard and the opposite is not true?

WHAT WENT DOWN WHEN MAGYK WENT UP

By Elmore Leonard. 251 pp. New York: Arbor House. $14.95.

HOW good is this novel? Probably the most convincing thing I can say on the subject is that it cost me money. After finishing ‘‘Glitz,’’ I went out to the bookstore at my local mall and bought everything by Elmore Leonard I could find - the stuff I didn’t already own, that is.

The fact that I do own four novels by Mr. Leonard and had read none of them might tell you something about the block I’ve had about him before this. Three of my four unread Leonards were sent to me a couple of years ago by a writer I respect - ‘‘You’ll like these,’’ the laconic note attached said. I put them on the shelf in my summer home, where they remain. Last year Mr. Leonard’s publishers sent me galleys of ‘‘LaBrava,’’ presumably for a blurb. I put it on the shelf where it remained until last night. I picked it up and started it as soon as I finished ‘‘Glitz.’’ I think the reason I had to be paid to start reading Mr. Leonard was that I never read a review that said he was a hack or that he was writing trash. And that was not because he wasn’t being reviewed; he was.
Text:

My favorite crime novelist - often imitated but never duplicated - is Jim Thompson. Thompson was rarely reviewed, but when he was he was excoriated. I was in fact originally attracted to him by a review that called ‘‘Cropper’s Cabin’’ ‘‘unbearably repulsive.’’ I immediately wanted to read that book, figuring anyone with enough energy to get a reviewer to call his work unbearably repulsive must have something going for him. Well, ‘‘Cropper’s Cabin’’ was pretty repulsive, all right, but it was nothing compared to ‘‘The Killer Inside Me.’’ But both of those books - Thompson’s whole oeuvre, in fact - were also really good.

How does this bear on my Elmore Leonard block? Simple. I figured if so many critics liked him, he was

Stephen King’s collection of short stories, ‘‘Skeleton Crew,’’ will be published next month. probably a bore.

Mr. Leonard is far from boring, critical kudos or no. You can put ‘‘Glitz’’ on the same shelf with your John D. MacDonalds, your Raymond Chandlers, your Dashiell Hammetts. In it, Mr. Leonard moves from low comedy to high action to a couple of surprisingly tender love scenes with a pro’s unobtrusive ease and the impeccable rhythms of a born entertainer. He isn’t out front, orating at the top of his lungs (another one of the things I was afraid of when I read all those glowing reviews); he’s behind the scenes where he belongs, moving the props around and keeping the story on a constant roll. This is the kind of book that if you get up to see if there are any chocolate chip cookies left, you take it with you so you won’t miss anything.

It is a good story, too. I have to emphasize that, because in the crime-suspense genre, the good writers have not always told the best stories - there are Raymond Chandler novels I still haven’t figured out, and I’ve read those babies to rags. Same with Ross MacDonald (only with MacDonald you did know one thing: somewhere along the line, two people who were related to each other but didn’t know it were going to end up in the sack together). It doesn’t always matter, particularly with Chandler; the classy, sassy power of the prose is enough to carry you along.

Finding a rational tale as well as that cheeky prose in ‘‘Glitz’’ was something of a bonus - but hey, I’ll take it, I’ll take it. I’ll even tell you a little bit of the story, but not enough to spoil it - as far as I am concerned, there’s too much on the dust jacket already.

‘‘Glitz’’ is about a Miami cop named Vincent who takes a rest cure in Puerto Rico after being shot by a speed-freak. Two things happen to him in San Juan: He meets and half falls in love with a prostitute named Iris, and he is observed by Teddy Magyk, one of popular fiction’s really great crazies. It seems Vincent put Teddy away, and Teddy still remembers. Boy, does he.

Fade out sunny San Juan; fade in the Boardwalk and glitzy false-fronted casinos of Atlantic City. I could tell you why the scene shifts, but, as a former President observed in one of his more thoughtful moments, that would be wrong. Suffice it to say that there’s a murder, and Vincent gets involved with an array of casino men, women and gangsters as a result.

My favorite among Mr. Leonard’s casino men is Jackie Garbo, who has an office decorated with autographed pictures of Vegas-Atlantic City celebs. He refers to them as dear friends, as in ‘‘my dear friend Johnny Carson’’ and ‘‘my dear friend Joan Rivers.’’ My favorite gangster is Ricky the Zit, who once killed a man by chopping his spine open with a cleaver. My favorite woman - and the book’s best supporting character - is LaDonna Holly Padgett, a one-time Miss America contestant who lost the big brass ring but who was picked as Miss Congeniality. Now she lives with Jackie Garbo, drinks a lot of what she calls ‘‘bloodies’’ and has developed a phobia about Italian restaurants. ‘‘You know what I’m scared the most of?’’ she asks Vincent. ‘‘We’re having dinner at Angeloni’s or one of those places and somebody comes in with a machine gun to kill one of those guys like you see in the paper? You see ‘em lying on the floor with blood all over? . . . I think about it, I get petrified.’‘

ALL of this comes to a smashing and satisfying conclusion. It’s fun, all right, but Mr. Leonard’s view of the fervid Atlantic City gambling world goes a step beyond both mere fun and the Arthur Hailey sort of ‘‘this is how it works’’ subtext. He is not a cynic - his view of his characters is sympathetic and sometimes almost loving - but the picture he draws of the Boardwalk dream-machine is fairly acrid: ‘‘Two thousand (tour buses) a day came into the city, dropped the suckers off for six hours to lose their paychecks, their Social Security in the slots and haul them back up to Elizabeth, Newark, Jersey City, Philly, Allentown. Bring some more loads back tomorrow - like the Jews in the boxcars, only they kept these folks alive with bright lights and loud music and jackpot payoffs that sounded like fire alarms.’’ That sound fairly acrid to you? I thought so too.

Time magazine has called Mr. Leonard a ‘‘Dickens from Detroit.’’ I haven’t read enough of him yet (give me a month or so) to agree, but his wit, his range of effective character portrayal and his almost eerily exact ear for the tones and nuances of dialogue suggest Dickens to me. Although it’s only February, I’ll venture a guess - ‘‘Glitz’’ may be the best crime novel of the year. Even if it’s not, I’m sorry it took me so long to catch up to Mr. Leonard.

DETECTIVES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT There was his mom’s face right on top of him. Teddy tried to push back away from her into the pillow. He thought, opening his eyes, she was going to kiss him on the mouth and it scared him. It was the middle of the night and the ceiling light was on in his bedroom. His mom’s stale breath came over his face as she whispered, ‘‘There some men here to see you.’’ ‘‘What men?’’ Scowling at her. Wanting her to get away from him. ‘‘They’re policemen, they showed me. Sonny? . . .’’ ‘‘What?’’ Why didn’t she get away? All eyes and hair curlers. ‘‘Why do they want to see you?’’ ‘’ I don’t know.’’ Crabby. Feeling crabby. ‘‘Would you mind?’’ . . . She straightened finally, picked up the Japanese robe, and held it open. ‘‘Here. So you don’t catch cold.’’ Teddy walked into the living room, hands in his sleeves. The two detectives were looking at Buddy, one of them crooking a finger at Buddy’s beak and pulling it away. He looked up and Buddy bit his finger, good, as the other one said, ‘‘Mr. Magyk?’’ and introduced himself and the detective sucking his finger, both of them heavyset and serious, as all cops were. He asked Teddy if he’d mind riding just over to Northfield with them to MCS headquarters - cops loved initials - like Northfield was only a couple minutes away. Teddy said, ‘‘Why, what’s the matter?’’ Wide eyed. Look how innocent he was. Polite too. The detective told him he didn’t have to talk to them if he didn’t want to. Teddy said, well, if they would tell him what it was about. . . . The detective said he could agree to come with them or they could go to Municipal Court and get a warrant, if Teddy wanted to give them a hard time. What hard time? They became deadpan, immobile, giving him a brick wall to butt his head against.

- From ‘‘Glitz.’’

Not many adore SK writing but more his storytelling ability.  Only reason i read him at times.

When i saw that qoute i posted i thought it was just some fake cover blurb.  But since he has shown clear love for John.D Macdonald,other legendary crime writers i thought its understandable he adores Leonard too.

The family is spending the summer off in Vietnam.  I spent last summ?r re-reading all the EL novels and short stories again and finding all the non-fiction articles.

I picked up the first three DARK TOWER books by Stephen King.  I have finished the first two books and I am hooked—a gunslinger that travels through different versions of the world.  I was looking for a good western and found something quite unique.

Mr. King revised the first book.  Parts were written when he was just starting out.  He got rid of 1000’s of adverbs.  HE MUST HAVE TAKEN SOME ADVICE FROM AN AUTHOR NAMED DUTCH.  It is amazing how Mr. King reflects Mr. Leonard’s thoughts on writing in recent years.  Maturity of writing is what I think.

Try The Dead Zone one of his best books.  A very strong character piece and interesting world.  A supernatural thriller.  Forget about the crappy movie.

I am now on THE DARK TOWER VII, the last book.  I am hooked on this series!

Of course, Elmore Leonard is mentioned, page 158 in the original hard cover.

A character is examining a robot’s book collection.

“He’s got all of Dickens, it looks like,” he said.  “Also Steinbeck . . . Thomas Wolfe . . . a lot of Zane Grey . . . somebody named Max Brand . . . a guy named Elmore Leonard . . . and the always popular Steve King.”

Another mention of Elmore Leonard in a Stephen King book:

THE STAND (Complete and Uncut - 1990)

page 752 (paperback)

. . .I was sitting behind Hap’s desk with my feet up, reading some Western - Louis L’Amour, Elmore Leonard, someone like that, . . .

Gregg, is Mr. Leonard mentioned in other author’s books?

I have read James Sallis,Ken Bruen books mentioning his books.

Another mention of Elmore Leonard (somewhat) in a Stephen King book:

DESPERATION (1996)—page 93, paperback

Steve had found himself thinking about his favorite movie, one he watched on tape every year or so:  HOMBRE, with Paul Newman and Richard Boone.

Mr. Leonard wrote the book.

Another Elmore Leonard mention in another Stephen King book—INSOMNIA, pg. 486 (paperback).

Ralph had never heard of him, but supposed Mr. Creeley had never heard of Elmore Leonard, Ernest Haycox. or Louis L’Amour, either.

BAG OF BONES (1998)
Stephen King

On a middle shelf of the bookcase I could see the three early Elmore Leonard novels - SWAG, THE BIG BOUNCE, and MR. MAJESTYK - that I had put aside against a spell of rainy weather…  ...Without a good book, every two days of rain in the woods can be enough to drive you bonkers.

Standing on the bookcase next to the Elmore Leonards was a long-barrelled flashlight…

I think Mr. King is a fan.  A SWAG mention!  That makes at least five Stephen King books that mention Elmore Leonard directly or indirectly.

In the new Entertainment Weekly, King called Elmore “the great American writer,” but said that he was a better writer 10 years ago. Now, this interview may have been dated—I was just glancing through the pages and it was a celebration of the magazines 25th (20th maybe?) year. Anyone have the magazine?

I don’t think EL’s missed a beat the past decade. I’ll put Tishomingo Blues against any of EL’s work.

Road Dawg - 26 July 2010 08:13 PM

In the new Entertainment Weekly, King called Elmore “the great American writer,” but said that he was a better writer 10 years ago.

Elmore Leonard 2000-2010
Pagan Babies - 2000
Fire In The Hole (novella) - 2001
Tishomingo Blues - 2002
When The Women Come Out To Dance (short story collection) - 2002
A Coyote’s In The House - 2003
Mr. Paradise - 2004
The Complete Western Stories - 2004
The Hot Kid - 2005
Comfort to the Enemy - 2006
Ten Rules For Writing (non-fiction) - 2007
Up in Honey’s Room - 2007
Road Dogs - 2009
Djibouti - 2010

Stephen King almost died in 1999 when a van hit him.  He must have lost his Elmore Leonard mojo.

This is a great decade.  Has Stephen King had one this good?  PAGAN BABIES starts the decade and is one of its best.  What King book would make the best of 2000-2010?  THE HOT KID and TISHOMINGO BLUES are classics.  MR. PARADISE, UP IN HONEY’S ROOM, and ROAD DOGS are fun reads.  TEN RULES FOR WRITING is a must.

My favorite decade is 1975 - 1985.  1990 - 2000 is quite nice.  70 - 80?  95 - 05?  For the past 60 years, no one has done it better.

THE DARK HALF by Stephen King (6th book to have an Elmore Leonard mention)

Paperback (page 74)

...but she had been reading Elmore Leonard for years before he hit the lists…

I use to be impressed by Kings love for great Noir writers Stark,Leonard and co but syaing Elmore Leonard was better 10 years ago is way off.

Having read several 2000s im always impressed how he doesnt let down despite all these years.

Other than Westlake i havent read a crime master this consistent,great of the last 50 years.