Elmore Leonard, anyone?

actually, I think it's [url]http://elmoreleonard.com[/url] without the 'www'

George V Higgins was much better in a comparable vein. And he knew about real crime and criminals, having been DA for years.

Elmore lists GVH as an influence. The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a great book, but many of GVH's other works were less successful and he doesn't have the sense of humour, I think.

I dunno - I like them both. I just don't think GVH is better when he only wrote a couple of readable books. It's true that Elmore gets most of his information through his research, but the same can be said of almost all writers.

He doesn't have the sense of humour ? I know GVH wrote more serious books, like 'The Mandeville talent', but 'The patriot game', 'The rat in flames' and 'The Digger's game' are much very funny. I haven't read much Elmore Leonard because humour didn't come as naturally.
And success, especially in despised genres as crime fiction, is very relative. Jim Thompson never was a big seller, for exmple.

the best thing about George V. Higgins is the hope he gives to aspiring writers when they hear that he wrote FOURTEEN unpublished novels before his first - Eddie Coyle - was published...

We can agree to disagree. You prefer one and I prefer the other. Did you read both types of books in English or translated? I only ask because I know that the French translations of Elmore Leonard are really bad.

...oh, and by 'success' I meant success in affecting me as a reader, rather than commercial success...

i know i'm afan, eben though i have read NOTHING by elmore leaonard. i really really really want to read cuba libre. what's a good first elmore leonard book?

personally, I found Cuba Libre a lot slower than some of the others because it's a western.
He started out writing westerns (which I'm not a fan of) before he started writing crime novels a few decades ago. Cuba Libre was a recent diversion back into westerns.
The first Elmore book I read was 'Out of Sight' and it inspired me to read more.
The best test of whether you will enjoy Elmore books is whether you enjoyed the movies mentioned above which are very close adaptations.

I read both in both languages. Reached the same conclusions.

[QUOTE=gobo_fraggle_uk]personally, I found Cuba Libre a lot slower than some of the others because it's a western.
He started out writing westerns (which I'm not a fan of) before he started writing crime novels a few decades ago. Cuba Libre was a recent diversion back into westerns.
The first Elmore book I read was 'Out of Sight' and it inspired me to read more.
The best test of whether you will enjoy Elmore books is whether you enjoyed the movies mentioned above which are very close adaptations.[/QUOTE]

i LOVED the movies. i think i am th eonly person who actually LIKED jackie brown.

I thought I was the only one, snuffy! so there are two of us liked that movie. Jackie Brown was based on the novel 'Rum Punch'.

good for you, franc. I think you'll find yourself in a minority in finding GVH funnier than Elmore, but that's fine. Did you enjoy any of these movies?

If found the films gave out more than the books. 'Out of sight' was particularly clever, the changes were always for better results. 'Jackie Brown' needs a second viewing to be fully enjoyed I think.

[I]Fifty-Two Pick Up[/I], made for the screen with Roy Schreider (Sp?), Ann Margaret, John Glover, and Clarence Williams III...read the book, watch the movie.

no offence, franc, because your English is obviously quite good, but I can't help thinking that the fact it's your second language has something to do with it. before you think this sounds patronising, just let me explain that my father-in-law is french, fluent in english - he just doesn't 'get' the elmore leonard books he's read, even though he gets most other books - and it's largely because the rhythm, the sound of the dialogue is where most of the humour and entertainment lies - it's very naturalistic and sometimes hard to get into, even for a native english speaker. i sometimes have trouble keeping up with it because i'm not from the US....
or else you get it but don't like it.
both options are fine.

Have you seen Get Shorty? The sequel is going to be released very soon, called 'Be Cool'. John Travolta and Uma Thurman do a dance sequence in it, a la Pulp Fiction.
I'm not sure if it will be good because the director is a hack (he made 'The Italian Job'... urgh), but I hope so.

[QUOTE=snuffy]i know i'm afan, eben though i have read NOTHING by elmore leaonard. i really really really want to read cuba libre. what's a good first elmore leonard book?[/QUOTE]
also, "the big bounce" was based on an elmore leonard novel. loosely based, i should add.

i'm sort of excited for tishomingo blues, partly because it was a good book, and partly because it's being directed by don cheadle.

yeah, I hope Tishomingo Blues goes ahead... they were supposed to shoot last year and the financing collapsed. I hope they get it made. I can't remember the names of the characters, but Cheadle will play one and I think they said Matthew Mc(shit-don't-know-how-to-spell-it)Connaughay? will play the other. He was in Reign of Fire. And Contact. You know who I mean.
Quentin Tarantino is supposed to have the movie rights to three other EL books - including Killshot. He was going to make Killshot before he read Rum Punch and decided to make that instead as his 'Pam Grier' project...

For anyone who enjoyed Jackie Brown, the novel 'The Switch' is about the same characters (Ordell, Louis and Melanie - Jackson, deNiro, Fonda) about twenty years younger when they first meet - before Louis goes to prison.

Okay, let me start out by saying that it's about time we have a thread in this forum dedicated to Elmore Leonard. I'm friggin' obsessed with this guy.

I was on and off again fan a couple years back. Started with "Glitz," which I liked quite a lot. Then read "The Switch," which didn't quite do it for me. Too simple and small of a book. Then went on to "City Primevil" which I liked more... but the ending was sort of flat.

And so for a couple years, I didn't pick up another Leonard book. And then a friend of mine convinced me to read "Mr. Majestyk." Being a Charles Bronson fan, I figured I'd read the book and then watch tne movie (Leonard wrote the script). And the book just ruled me.

And this is when it began. I went on a non-stop spree. (this is earlier this year) and read, in no apparent order:

Killshot
Pronto
Maximum Bob
Rum Punch
Cuba Libre
The Hunted
40 Lashes, Less One
Split Images
Riding The Rap
Tishimongo Blues
Swag
Freaky Deaky

And I've got Gunsights and Cat Chaser sitting on my shelf, not yet read.

Out of the ones up top, Killshot, Pronto and Maximum Bob are definitely stand-outs. Killshot is just a tight, perfect little book with some of the best tension and chemistry between two characters I've ever read. (Tarantino wants to make this with him and David Carradine playing the two leads).

But Pronto is one of Leonard's early 90s "big crime" books. One of his Florida tales that I love so much. It's a big story, like Rum Punch, with lots of characters, tons of humor and violence, that he weaves together so perfectly. Riding the Rap is the sequel, which is much smaller in scope, but definitely a great complement.

Maximum Bob is another Florida tale with a big cast of characters and some truly stand-out moments.

The rest are all capable books too, with The Hunted being my least favorite Leonard book. It's like an action novel set in Israel that all leads up to one gun fight in the end.

I personally love Western movies, and was interested to read Leonard's Western novels (since he wrote and scripted some of the great 70s Westerns, ie: Joe Kidd and Hombre).

But so far, I wasn't totally impressed by 40 Lashes, Less One (this is another one Tarantino owns the rights too), and I thought Cuba Libre was solid... but yeah, sort of slow.

Well, there are my Elmore Leonard thoughts.

Pagan Babies is good too.
Glad to hear you're an Elmore fan, Dennis.
The [url]www.elmoreleonard.com[/url] website is run by Elmore's researcher, Gregg Sutter. There aren't many visitors to the forum over there and I'm sure you'd be welcome if you want to take a look. Gregg is hoping to make some changes to the site to encourage more traffic.

On a personal note - Elmore's a really cool guy too. I've written to him a few times and each time he's replied within a day or two of getting my letter. A really nice man. He's 78 but hopefully will write another hundred books or so before he retires.

Sorry I had forgotten 'Get Shorty'. Both book and film are equally boring and unfunny. Not even a smile.

And don't get me started on 'Joe Kidd'. Suffice to say that simply mentioning it is a private joke between my brother and me.

[QUOTE=franc tireur]Sorry I had forgotten 'Get Shorty'. Both book and film are equally boring and unfunny. Not even a smile.[/QUOTE]

Sounds more like a grudge than a dislike for EL...

Sign me in as a big admirer of Mr. Leonard.
j(ay)

[QUOTE=jay]Sounds more like a grudge than a dislike for EL...
[/QUOTE]

yeah, i think that's definitely an unusual reaction 'franc' is having

No, nothing personal against EL. It happens that my chief interest in litterature is crime fiction. I've read all the great names of the genre, but never caught on Leonard.

In case anyone is into Elmore Leonard, or wants to try him, amazon.com is currently offering the HARDCOVER edition of MR. PARADISE for only $6.99 as one of their current bargain books...

[url]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002TP1K8/002-1453995-2890454?v=glance&s=books&n=45[/url]

EL is the bomb. The Hot Kid is every bit as good as anything he's ever done, he's still 'got it.' I think 'Touch' was my favorite at one time, but it's hard to pick just one. I can't remember ever really disliking one of his books, and I haven't read him through but I've come closer than I'd think possible for a guy with that many books out.