Elmore Leonard

[Eggroll]

Has anybody read his books? I am interested in crime fiction, I hear he is a legend in that genre. I'm a very big fan of the movie Jackie Brown, and that was based off of Leonard's book Rum Punch which I'd be interested in reading. What are his best books, and which should I star with?

[fever33]

He is an amazing writer....go with any of the books. His son, Peter Leonard, also has some great books out too!

[paulpeters]

I am very jealous that you are going to get to read him for the first time. He is a great writer, and I hope he feels better (just getting over a stroke). There are some great days of reading in front of you with titles like Freaky Deaky, Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Rum Punch. I also enjoyed Tishomingo Blues and recommend When the Women Come Out to Dance. There is a story called Fire in the Hole which is where the characters for the amazing television show Justified comes from. If you enjoy westerns this is where he got his start, and would recommend those as well.

[fever33]

RIP Elmore Leonard....lost a great one today...the world just got a little less interesting

[GKCfan]

Rest in peace, Mr. Leonard.

[Eggroll]

I just started Get Shorty yesterday, it's very good so far. The next one I'll read will probably be Swag.

[thsavage2]

I was introduced to him by the TV show Justified, and so I read "Fire in the Hole." Both the story and the show are very, very good. They both center on the characters, which is something I really love. The modern-Western world created is compelling and convincing and this is mostly because it seems authentic, not trope-y and filled with stereotypes. I recommend both his writing and the show.

[thenameisZelda]

I adore Justified. It is easily one of my absolute top favorite T.V. shows. Because of that show, I am HIGHLY interested in getting my hands on his writing.

[Mike_Lang]

I can't recall the first Elmore Leonard novel I ever read, at some point in my life he was just one of those authors whose books were likely to be found in abundance on my shelf.

Mr. Leonard's gift was his ear for dialogue, no one was better at it and damn few are anywhere near as good. Among my favorite Elmore Leonard books are Maximum Bob, Cat Chaser, Glitz and Out of Sight.

[donaldzlotnik]

I knew Leonard when he lived a few blocks away in Birmingham, Michigan. He would lecture occasionally at the Birmingham Library. I would run into him walking around Quarton Lake and at Cranbrook during my daily runs. We talked once when my novel (removed by mod) was published (There was an article in the local paper)and he congratulated me. We talked about the local child serial killer and his/her never having been caught (He brought up the topic),,,and he informed me he really didn't enjoy talking will other authors. I think he was very gunshy fearing he would be accused of stealing ideas. I found him to be egotistical, rude and basically an ass...but we all have our quirks--the problem could have been me.

[Brandi Noelle]

I love Elmore Leonard's western short stories. I have a compilation of them and highly recommend them. When I heard a TV series was created based off "Fire in the Hole," I had to watch, even though I feared it would not do the story justice. Luckily, I was wrong and "Justified" became my husband's and my favorite show. I loved that Elmore and his son were both involved with the show, because I think that kept it authentic to the stories. He was an amazing writer.

[verbals]

There's a period from 1981 to 1985, which contains my favourites of his books;
Split Images
Cat Chaser
Stick
La Brava
Glitz

, and the last two are my very favourites.

His 70s books are raw and punchy, and then he developed that smoother, cooler style into the 90s; the films that were most successfully adapted come from that period; so I should put my finger on why those 80's books are quite so good.

He had refined his heroes and, in books which are so brilliant in their dialogue, his men could be summarised as the quiet type- only saying the bare minimum to make their point. Instead of the essentially simple crime plots of his early books, there's a complexity to the schemes in these favourites; plus a moral ambiguity that marks out the best noir; shifting loyalties, for instance; Glitz has a particularly nasty villain who can't quite see himself in that light; he feels picked on, he's like a big child.