Westlake Score: The Sour Lemon Score (UK Coronet first edition, 1969)

NB: A version of this post also appears on Existential Ennui.

Here’s a Westlake Score which, for me, completes a particular run of Westlake’s Richard Stark-written Parker crime novels. It’s the British first edition of The Sour Lemon Score, the twelfth Parker outing, published in paperback by Coronet Books/Hodder […]

News for week ending 2012-08-25

Popular Mechanics–How to read an old sci-fi book. The lessons apply to any old paperbacks. http://t.co/AccElJfT #

LB Score: Hit Man by Lawrence Block, signed first edition

NB: A version of this post also appears on Existential Ennui.

Over on Existential Ennui, I’ve been blogging on and off for a while now about some of the signed editions I’ve acquired over the past however many months. Few of the books I’ve showcased thus far have been a good fit […]

News for week ending 2012-08-18

Ed Gorman on The Money Trap:

Donald Westlake always acknowledged [Lionel] White's influence on his work…

http://t.co/ZPmNhKiX #

A letter of note

Shameless plug time, I’m afraid. Earlier today I posted a letter on Existential Ennui by British crime/spy/thriller writer Gavin Lyall (of whom I’m a huge admirer), which makes for fascinating reading if you’ve any interest in matters to do with publishing (which I know some of you have). The letter dates from […]

Songs of noir part II: “Take Another Picture” by Quarterflash

Quarterflash - Take Another Picture album cover

After going with the obvious on part I, I thought I’d throw out a curveball with part II.

I first heard this song on the radio when I was a kid, which is surprising because it was only a minor hit, peaking at #58. Good local DJs in Madison, Wisconsin back then, I guess.

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News for week ending 2012-08-11

Great NPR session with Donald Westlake from the official site. Part one is iffy, but stick with it. Part two pays off: http://t.co/9NXte0Vl #

Review: Killing Time by Donald E. Westlake

NB: A version of this post also appears on Existential Ennui.

Thanks to a series of Westlake Scores, I’ve ended up reading—and reviewing—some of Donald E. Westlake’s earliest novels this year. I wrote about his debut novel—under his own name, that is; he’d had a number of pseudonymous sleaze works published prior […]

Songs of noir part I: “The Murder Mystery” by the Velvet Underground

Some time ago, in my interview with Wallace Stroby, I made this threat:

“I’ve occasionally thought about launching a ‘Songs of Noir’ series when I desperately needed filler.”

With the books all in boxes and a hurry-up-and-wait move going on, now is that time! I’m stuck at the moment without much to do other […]

News for week ending 2012-08-04

Lowbrow Media reviews Darwyn Cooke's The Score: http://t.co/joVky4GM # Jay Mattson at PopMatters has an excellent review of Darwyn Cooke's The Score: http://t.co/aw6WJOAx #