I have been reading several books by Lawrence Block of late. TELLING LIES FOR FUN AND PROFIT is loaded with great advice for writers.
And A DROP OF THE HARD STUFF entertained us from Detroit to Buffalo and back again.
But my all-time favorite is WHEN THE SACRED GINMILL CLOSES. I think that was the first Block I ever read and it just blew me away.
What about you? What Lawrence Block book do you like best?
25 comments:
The first LB book I ever read was A Ticket To The Boneyard. I was a horror fan before LB showed me that bad people can be much more frightening than ghosts and demons. That book opened up a whole new world for me and I've been a big LB fan ever since.
I've read so much Block it's hard to pick one or two. I liked the two Chip Harrison/Nero Wolfe takeoffs (Make Out With Murder and The Topless Tulip Caper), the early paperback original Scudders, and Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man. And Telling Lies. And the short stories.
Jeff M.
The problem is, he's so damn prolific, and it's all good to great.
WHEN THE SACRED GINMILL CLOSES was my favorite too. I enjoy reading Lawrence Block.
I hate to sound like a parrot, but yeah... WHEN THE SACRED GINMILL CLOSES. And you're right, every writer should read TELLING LIES FOR FUN AND PROFIT.
SUCH MEN ARE DANGEROUS.
They're all good, but if I had to pick one it would probably be THE SINS OF THE FATHER, for its nostalgia value, because I remember exactly where and when I bought it as a paperback original.
I really like his "telling lies." Great book.
I have none. Don't care for Block, thanks. Read Telling Lies years ago and was singularly unimpressed.
Heck, how many has he published over the past 50+ years anyway?
EVERYBODY DIES was good but depressing. Mick Ballou is a scary guy.
A Ticket to the Boneyard is in my log from January, 1993. And a Dance to the Slaughterhouse October, 1993. I seemed to alternate Block, Hillerman, Dexter and Frances Fyfield that year.
I liked EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE and ME TANNER, YOU JANE. Block has good quality control so almost all of his work is above average. Although it's hard to find a copy of ARIEL, it's well worth reading.
Block is my favorite writer and I've read 60+ so far. My first was A Ticket to the Boneyard in '93, found in the library of the small town where I was stuck in my first job after college. I've read multiple Block titles every year since, but always have a soft spot for that one. Also love "Everybody Dies," which really injected some needed grit into the latter-day Scudder series. Really, hard to go wrong anywhere in his back catalog.
At the original Murder Ink I asked Dilys Winn for "something different" and one of the two books she recommended was SUCH MEN ARE DANGEROUS by Paul Kavanagh, who I didn't know was Block at the time. I read it after the two Harrisons (1975) and the first three Scudders (1977).
Jeff M.
I've read 49 Blocks; I've read more by only a few other authors - Simenon, Christie, Hunter/McBain, Pronzini and Westlake.
Jeff M.
Yikes. I have one on my kindle right now if Phil ever finishes Secret Agent. I have read more Simenon and Christie but not many others. Maybe John D. MacDonald, Ruth Rendell and Nicholas Freeling.
Hey, Patti, what happened to that one book by one author rule of yours?
I certainly haven't read them all.
Among those unmentioned so far, I enjoyed A LONG LINE OF DEAD MEN and (of course) ENOUGH ROPE enormously...and finally catching a piece of the film adaptation of MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS the other day reminds me that I haven't read that one, yet...
George--how foolish would that be?
The only ones I have read recently is A DROP OF THE HARD STUFF and the writing book. Although I downloaded one that is set in Phil's hometown. I do try to stick to it, but increasingly, good authors have too much to offer. I am reading a terrific Reginald Hill now--and I have read a ton of them over the years.
I have to re-visit the Ginmill. 8 Million Ways to Die is brilliant, but my favorite are his darkest. Walk Among the Tombstones, Dance at the Slaughterhouse and the fantastic All the Flowers Are Dying.
hard to pick the best and we are not mentioning THE BURGLAR series.
I enjoy his writing, including THE BURGLAR series. Lawrence Block reading Bernie books-on-tape is a treat not to be missed.
Michel
Will try to find one. Love when writers read their own work. You know the voice carries the right tone then.
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