{"id":30,"date":"2013-10-08T00:20:18","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T00:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=30"},"modified":"2013-10-08T00:20:18","modified_gmt":"2013-10-08T00:20:18","slug":"masters-voice-donald-e-westlake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=30","title":{"rendered":"Masters of Voice: Donald E. Westlake"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wish I had discovered Donald E. Westlake <\/a>years earlier than I did. He is a writing\u00a0hero for his ability to tell a story and to make it zing. His The Ax<\/em> is as terrifying a novel as I\u2019ve ever read. His Parker character is legendary, but it\u2019s the Dortmunder crew\u00a0I love most.<\/p>\n

Here are some favorite examples of his distinctive wit:<\/p>\n

They, all of them, the men and the women\u2019s auxiliary, too, were hunched over their drinks with that thousand-yard stare that suggests therapy was no longer an option. In short, the place looked like that section of the socialist realist mural where the workers have been utterly shafted by the plutocrats.<\/p>\n

– Watch Your Back (2005)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

The lawyers were young bird dogs, skinny and focused. They looked like brother and sister, both tall and thin with very sharp features and thick black hair swept straight back as though they used a wind tunnel for haircare.<\/p>\n

– The Road to Ruin (2004)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

To the south, the other building\u2019s ground floor housed a restaurant supply wholesaler, whose strategy in the realm of security lighting was one illuminated wall clock at the rear of the showroom, in the pink glow of which were tumbled all the fast-food counters, bartops, banquettes, ovens, walk-in freezers, and wooden cases of dinnerware recently collected from enterprises that had unfortunately stumbled into nonexistence and whose gear was now awaiting the next hopeful entrepreneur with a certified check in his pocket.<\/p>\n

– Get Real (2009)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Bob\u2019s aside: What a sentence! 80 words and he kept the thread and humor!<\/p>\n

Tina Pausto could create a stir at the Academy Awards. At the Good Rep theatre, she caused more than one patron to walk into a wall. So tall, so sleek, so slender, poured into a basic little black dress from which her completely admirable silvery legs emerged and emerged and emerged. Josh, next to her, felt it must be like this to walk your pet cheetah.<\/p>\n

– Money for Nothing (2003)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Originally posted in Blog Bobaloo, June 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wish I had discovered Donald E. Westlake years earlier than I did. He is a writing\u00a0hero for his ability to tell a story and to make it zing. His The Ax is as terrifying a novel as I\u2019ve ever read. His Parker character is legendary, but it\u2019s the Dortmunder crew\u00a0I love most. Here are… Continue reading Masters of Voice: Donald E. Westlake<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,6],"tags":[9,15,94,16],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime-mystery-and-suspense","category-this-whole-writing-thing","tag-crime-fiction","tag-donald-e-westlake","tag-humor","tag-mystery-thriller","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3CG0W-u","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":383,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=383","url_meta":{"origin":30,"position":0},"title":"Behind The Short Story: “Aix to Grind”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"June 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, I was in Aix-en-Provence, and sure, I was studying a\u00a0Picasso in\u00a0a museum's\u00a0first room, only a token velvet rope between me and it, and okay, I even thought, \u201cman, this is how many million euro hanging how many steps from the door?\u201d But no, I wasn\u2019t casing the joint. I\u2019m\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/AHMSEPT2014web.jpg?fit=300%2C439&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":758,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=758","url_meta":{"origin":30,"position":1},"title":"Born Under a Bad Sign: Behind “The Cumberland Package”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"March 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Vernon Stagg was born\u00a0from a bad book. A manuscript actually, mine sadly, and fortunately for us all I abandoned it before the querying stage. This was 2011, early yet for me\u00a0into This Whole Writing Thing. The manuscript was a sort of Westlake-ian, Hiaasen-ian lovechild romp, and no matter what I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_2653 (1) (2)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_2653-1-2-300x185.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":698,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=698","url_meta":{"origin":30,"position":2},"title":"Behind: “Crack-up at Waycross”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"October 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"First things first:\u00a0the proceeds\u00a0from Bouchercon's\u00a0Murder Under the Oaks go to the Wake Country Public Libraries. And folks, reading is cool. In November 2013, thieves broke into a Modesto, CA orchard and made off with 140,000 pounds--70 tons--of in-shell walnuts.\u00a0In February 2012, a shade to the north, 40,000ish tons of walnuts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"COVER_Murder-Under-the-Oaks_x1500","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/COVER_Murder-Under-the-Oaks_x1500-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":968,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=968","url_meta":{"origin":30,"position":3},"title":"Derringer-ered!","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"April 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm incredibly proud\u00a0 that last year's\u00a0\"The Cumberland Package\"\u00a0(AHMM, May 2016) has been named a finalist for the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Derringer Awards.\u00a0 I mean, like busting-at-seams proud. Of being named, because the crime\u00a0space these days is terrific in\u00a0its voice\u00a0and depth. The\u00a0stuff that leaves me vibrating explores\u00a0in stark terms\u00a0human nature\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1794,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=1794","url_meta":{"origin":30,"position":4},"title":"ForSleuth! I’m Onboard SleuthSayers.","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"October 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 I'm excited and honored as of this morning to join the SleuthSayers gang for a monthly blog caper. SleuthSayers is both a favorite blog I've followed and a well-respected collaborative of some seriously talented short mystery fiction writers. Special guests, crime fighters, the works. These folks are long-established across\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Presentation1a-fingerprint-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2572,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=2572","url_meta":{"origin":30,"position":5},"title":"2024 So Far:","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"March 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The new year isn't new anymore. 2024 has had some haps. Here's a few things going on, writing-wise. Murder, Neat A few years ago, the Sleuthsayers blog collective set out on a plan. An anthology plan. The Sleuthsayers ranks includes a few dozen terrific writers all with a love for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Murder-Neat-2024-Sleuthsayers-1-682x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/31"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}