Back on March 11, when this website was still in the throes of technical difficulties, I had the pleasure of joining in on a podcast discussion of The Comedy is Finished with Jesse Willis from SFF Audio and Trent Reynolds from The Violent World of Parker. Both gentlemen are well-read, insightful and great fun to chat with and listen to. Read More …
Been a long time getting this site back to normal. Lots of updates while it was in safe mode. There will definitely be separate blog posts coming in the near future but, for now, here’s an annotated list of the doings in the past few months… Violent World of Parker Happy Birthday to Donald Westlake [Editor’s note: Special thanks Read More …
At long last, the site has been migrated over to the new host and the back-end works again! I have full control of the website for the first time in months. Big, tremendous thanks to those who left messages or sent emails offering to help. Sorry for the lack of communication but I have to pay the bills, too, and Read More …
After a long delay, I hope to reset the site with a new host very soon. Meanwhile, here’s an interview I did with Maxim Jakubowski while on a recent trip through London. Until 2009, Maxim was the owner of the Murder One Bookshop on Charring Cross Road in London. The store had to close due to the pressures of big Read More …
Content Management Systems can be easy to work with. A simple blog is a no-brainer for blogger or wordpress. But the more complex the site, the more complex the issues CMS has to handle, the more quirky the system gets. While it hasn’t had an impact on the functionality of the site (as far as I can tell), the partially-working Read More …
A few tidbits from the creation of the screenplay and shooting script for The Stepfather. I’ll put together a more comprehensive movie page in the near future. For now, here’s a few scans from Don’s files.
You can find links to sample chapters in some of the book pages on this site and more are being added over time. Indicating which books have sample chapters in the bibliography is on my list of things to do, possibly this weekend. Until then, it’s pot luck. Below, the first few paragraphs of The Mercenaries, the first book Read More …
If you happen to live in Toronto, you can catch the two previous film adaptations of Richard Stark’s The Hunter at the A.V. Club next Thursday: REMAKE/REMODEL: This week also sees the launch of an intriguing new program at the TUC. The brainchild of critic and AV Club Toronto editor John Semley, Remake/Remodel is a double bill of films that have a Read More …
@ExtAngel Glenn Kenny Goddamnit. I should never go to the gym while I’m in the MIDDLE of a Richard Stark novel. 14 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® @WDGagliani W.D. Gagliani Openings: John Dortmunder was a man on whom the sun shone only when he needed darkness. / Donald Westlake, Bad News, 2001 ((I can relate!)) 16 Nov via Read More …
By Daniela Gitlin on her blog Westlake wrote quirky, smart stories about quirky, smart people living full lives outside the law. Sure, they go down quick and easy as escapist trash. But to think they are trash would be a mistake, like falling for Columbo’s dull bulb act. Single-handed creator of the comedic caper and noir crime fiction, Westlake Read More …
From Seacoast Online – Portsmouth, NH Even with more than 3,000 titles in Mainely Murders and 10,000 in their ever-expanding collection, Keeney and Whetstone admit there are books they will never sell. “I collect Richard Stark, which is another name for Donald Westlake. He was among the first of the good and bad guys. He’s a robber and Read More …
by Ed Gorman (on his blog) How’s this for an opener? I’m about to review the worst book Donald E. Westlake ever wrote. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s Westlake himself speaking. “I spoiled a book by having him do something he wouldn’t do. The sixth book in the series is called The Jugger, and that book Read More …
by Josie Campbell, Staff Writer for Comic Book Resources At the 2011 Long Beach Comic Con, artist Darwyn Cooke and IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier joined forces on the Darwyn Cooke panel to talk about Cooke’s ongoing IDW work adapting author Richard Stark AKA Donald Westlake’s “Parker” novels into graphic novel form. Immediately opening the Read More …
It’s no secret by now that Taylor Hackford has directed the forthcoming Parker, based on Richard Stark’s Flashfire, with Jason Statham in the starring role. Among Parker fans, pretty much everything is already known about the casting, making and eventual distribution of this movie. What amuses me is how Palm Beach, Florida, played its part in both the book and Read More …
Welcome and thanks for visiting the official website of crime novelist and MWA Grand Master Donald E. Westlake, aka Richard Stark, aka Tucker Coe, aka Curt Clark, aka Samuel Holt, aka Timothy J. Culver, aka J. Morgan Cunningham, aka Judson Jack Carmichael (what’s with all the “J” names?), and (grudgingly) aka Edwin West. The blog section (here) will be where Read More …
