Elmore Leonard
Elmore Leonard is the reigning master of the American crime thriller.
He started with Westerns, way back in the 1950s — “3:10 to Yuma” and more. He made his big name with smart, tight, fast thrillers that readers — and Hollywood — couldn’t get enough of: “Get Shorty,” “Jackie Brown,” “Be Cool,” “Out of Sight.”
Now Elmore Leonard is out with his 43rd: “Road Dogs.” It goes right at sex, friendship, loyalty and money — and whether anyone, especially a crook, can have them all.
This hour, On Point: The master, Elmore Leonard, on the crime thriller and “Road Dogs.”
You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guest:
Elmore Leonard joins us from Detroit, Michigan. He’s the bestselling author of over 40 novels – Westerns and crime thrillers and mysteries. The New York Times calls him “the greatest living writer of crime fiction.” His new book, out this month, is “Road Dogs.”
You can read the first eight chapters of “Road Dogs” at HarperCollins.com.
From Cambridge, Mass., we’re joined by Robert Pinsky, former poet laureate of the United States and professor of English at Boston University. His review of “Road Dogs” appears in this Sunday’s New York Times Book Review.
Mr. Leonard’s early literary works, short stories and novels, were often set in the American West of the late 19th century… and he has alot of experience in moving the pages to the screen. Two questions:
1.) Did the “Western” genre interest him intrinsically, or was it just the market at the time?
2.) In his opinion, which Western worked best, both as a book and as a film?
Posted by bruce in marblehead, on May 29th, 2009 at 9:46 am EDTI love Get Shorty – it’s one of my favorate movies. How did you develop the character Chilly Palmer? Where did the line “look at me” come from? “Who are you?” “I’m the one telling you how it is”.
Posted by Bill Clarke, on May 29th, 2009 at 10:32 am EDTCuba Libre!
Posted by Frederic C., on May 29th, 2009 at 11:31 am EDTI object(!) to Sotomayer’s comment taken out of the context of a discussion of Roe v Wade.
Posted by Art Toegemann, on May 29th, 2009 at 6:23 pm EDTI absolutely love Elmore Leonard’s books – his characterization and dialogs are so delightful!! Though “Road Dogs” (which I finished earlier today) felt somewhat flat and didn’t quite have the same fizz as his earlier books have.
Posted by millard-fillmore, on May 29th, 2009 at 6:40 pm EDT(Have to redeem myself after the Sotomayer comment. Wrong twice.)
Leonard had me after I read a synopsis of Dortmunder stealing a train of coffee in Idi Amin’s Uganda. What a flick!
Posted by Art Toegemann, on May 29th, 2009 at 6:54 pm EDTI loved this hour with Elmore Leonard. He’s a wonderful writer. One thing I miss is the television series “Maximum Bob” based on his book. it was a wonderful putdown of all things sacred and deserved a wider following. I was very sorry to see it trashed after only several episodes and have looked for it on DVD but haven’t found a source yet. If anyone knows of how to get my hands on this great program, please let me know.
cheers,
Posted by ncm, on June 1st, 2009 at 6:30 pm EDTncm