Some thoughts on panning Parker, and thanks to Paul Westlake

While I’m sure there are some critics who do enjoy it, I really hate writing negative reviews.

I’m always aware that even if the book, movie, or album didn’t quite work for me, it represents hundreds if not thousands of hours of hard work for someone, and I don’t think very many people set […]

News for week ending 2013-01-25 (open thread)

News for week ending 2013-01-25 (open thread) […]

1986 interview with Elmore Leonard promoting Bandits

This is something I discovered as part of my downsizing and de-hoarding process. Mystery Reporter was a freebie that B. Dalton bookstores would give away with the purchase of something. (Yes, there’s a cover price, but I’ll eat my shoe if I find out anyone ever paid for it.)

It’s Elmore Leonard doing a […]

Fantastic article at Grantland: The Many Lives of Donald Westlake

Bookmark this one: “The Many Lives of Donald Westlake: On the man who created Parker and the quest for the perfect character,” by Michael Weinreb.

I was interviewed for the piece, but that’s not why I’m giving it its own post. (I’m barely quoted, which is fine by me as I’m not a big […]

Movie review: Parker

Update: My opinion isn’t the only one. I’m adding links to thoughts from fellow Parker fans (often quite different from mine) at the bottom of the post.

Parker is terrible.

Almost everything about it is awful. It opens well enough, with a heist set at the Ohio State Fair, which […]

University of Chicago Press releases Parker character guide

I haven’t had time to look at it yet, and don’t have time even to find a graphic to illustrate this post like I usually do, but I wanted to get this posted ASAP on more than just Twitter.

In order to celebrate fifty years of Parker, and on the eve of the release of […]

News for week ending 2013-01-18 (open thread)

News for week ending 2013-01-18 (open thread) […]

Parker Progress Report: Flashfire (2000)

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

With Backflash (1998), the second entry in the second run of Donald E. “Richard Stark” Westlake’s Parker novels, Westlake was firmly back in the Parker groove. It was a classic Parker heist tale: an intriguing target (a casino riverboat); a familiar […]

Quick take movie reviews: Jack Reacher and Gangster Squad

Had the exact same film Jack Reacher not been based on a huge-selling series of books, starred an A-lister, and been heavily advertised, it would be a jewel, something to tell your fellow crime aficionados about after it’s forgotten, something akin to The Outfit (although it’s not as good as that one), […]

News for week ending 2013-01-11 (open thread)

News for week ending 2013-01-11 (open thread) […]