The Getaway Car (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780226121819)

"This is a book for everyone, anyone who likes mystery novels or good writing or wit and passion and intelligence."--The New York Times

Over the course of a fifty-year career, Donald E. Westlake published nearly one hundred books, including not one but two long-running series, starring the hard-hitting Parker and the hapless John Dortmunder. In the six years since his death, Westlake's reputation has only grown, with fans continuing to marvel at his tightly constructed plots, no-nonsense prose, and keen, even unsettling, insights into human behavior.

With The Getaway Car, we get our first glimpse of another side of Westlake the writer: what he did when he wasn't busy making stuff up. And it's fascinating. Setting previously published pieces, many little seen, alongside never-before-published material found in Westlake's working files, the book offers a clear picture of the man behind the books--including his thoughts on his own work and that of his peers, mentors, and influences. The book opens with revealing (and funny) fragments from an unpublished autobiography, then goes on to offer an extended history of private eye fiction, a conversation among Westlake's numerous pen names, letters to friends and colleagues, interviews, appreciations of fellow writers, and much, much more. There's even a recipe for Sloth ? la Dortmunder. Really.

Rounded out with a foreword by Westlake's longtime friend Lawrence Block, The Getaway Car is a fitting capstone to a storied career and a wonderful opportunity to revel anew in the voice and sensibility of a master craftsman.

Author: Donald E. Westlake
ISBN-10: 022612181X
ISBN-13: 9780226121819
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Language: English
Published: 09/24/2014
Pages: 256
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.83lbs
Size: 9.06h x 6.02w x 0.74d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/09/2014
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2014
Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview 08/15/2014 pg. 40
Booklist 09/01/2014 pg. 28
Library Journal 10/01/2014 pg. 85
Shelf Awareness 09/26/2014
New York Times Book Review 01/18/2015 pg. 22
New York Times Book Review 01/11/2015 pg. 26