The Official
Elmore Leonard Website

Archives

--Select Month-- November 2018 July 2018 October 2016 August 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004

Elmore Leonard: son of a gun in the family business

Times Online
Ben Macintyre

Elmore Leonard, the Dickens of Detroit, is one of America’s greatest novelists. But who knew he was also the head of a crime-writing dynasty? Our writer meets him and son Peter, whose first thriller is published next month

I have been granted an audience with Detroit’s most famous crime family. The father, at 82, remains the capo di tutti capi, the undisputed boss: he has wiped out so many people in the course of his career, he lost count long ago. But now his 56-year-old son is joining the family business, and has just completed his first job: five dead, including two by means of a bow and arrow, and a cop, blasted into hamburger meat with a pump-action shot gun.

The old man is pleased.

Elmore Leonard, the “Dickens of Detroit”, is America’s greatest living crime novelist. For more than half a century, he has turned out books at the rate of almost one a year: westerns, mystery fiction, but most importantly crime thrillers. He is the master of the genre, the inventor of a distinct fictional universe that is spare, violent, grittily humorous and set, for the most part, in Detroit.

Next month, however, Quiver, the first book written by his son, Peter, is published: it is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a spare, violent and grittily humorous crime novel set, for the most part, in Detroit.

Father and son are sitting in Peter’s neat and comfortable living room in suburban Detroit. Elmore has walked here from his own home, just a few streets away. Both are smiling, yet tense, for it is an odd situation, this passing of the literary baton from one generation to the next.

Elmore has a thin, almost gaunt, face with wispy beard and sharp eyes behind round spectacles; Peter’s, by contrast, is genial and rounded with a small, fair moustache. There is little obvious family resemblance in the flesh, but plenty on the page: the older Leonard’s writing echoes throughout Quiver, in the almost complete absence of adjectives, plot told through dialogue, the slang and the contemporary cultural references.

“There is certainly a Leonard sound, started by Elmore,” says Peter, glancing sideways to where his father is lighting up a Virginia Slim cigarette. “We look at the world with a similar point of view. It’s sarcastic at times. It’s an attitude about life.”

Read More>

****

Recent Posts

Elmore is Buried Today on His Birthday

Elmore Leonard Forever

Elmore Leonard Podcasts

The Enduring Appeal Of Elmore Leonard and Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens

The Gregg Sutter Blog

Japanese FU-GO Balloon Bombs in Michigan

The Pontiac Story of Progress & Promise

Tom Morwatts on Growing Up in Detroit

Detroit Punks: Mitch Ryder

Amazon 2015 Pilots Now Online – Including Point of Honor

Even Bank Robbers Decide What Tie To Wear: The Essence Of Elmore Leonard

On Twitter