|
|
Adult Books - Fiction - Crime Fiction - Thriller/Suspense
|  |  |
Get Shorty.
Leonard, Elmore (author).
Aug. 1990. 291p. Delacorte, hardcover, $18.95 (0-385-30141-3).
REVIEW.
First published June 1, 1990 (Booklist).
Nobody writes nice-guy-bad-guys better than Elmore Leonard, and the nicest and best of the lot—at least since Ernest (“Stick”) Stickley in Stick (1980)—just may be loan-shark-turned-movie-producer Chili Palmer. The Miami-based Chili is in Los Angeles looking for a dry cleaner who’s behind on the “vig” when he encounters schlock moviemaker Harry Zimm. Soon Chili is pitching his own movie ideas—based mostly on his adventures in search of the dry cleaner—and helping Harry launch a “sure-thing blockbuster.” But it’s not all mineral water and soft pastels. There’s a Mob guy on Chili’s tail, and worse yet, there’s Bo Catlett (another hood gone Hollywood), who wants to produce Harry’s blockbuster himself and sees Chili in the way. The delightful notion of street-smart, movie-loving criminals is what gives the offbeat comedy/thriller its zip. (On the run from the Mob, Chili needs a place to hide and tries the Chateau Marmont, hoping to get Jean Harlow’s room.) Leonard has put his own 20 years of movie-writing experience to good use here, producing not just another Hollywood insider’s novel, but instead an ingratiating mix of satire and celebration. As usual, the talk jumps off the page, and the characters are all stamped with an indelible individuality. This is Leonard’s best book in several yars, and he isn’t even coming off a slump.— Bill Ott
| |
|
| Click here to find more books by this author |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|