Donald E. Westlake 1933-2008

Even in the age of the internet, it took my three days to find out that one of my absolute favorite authors, Donald E. Westlake, has died.  He died at the age of 75, after an apparent heart attack on New Year’s Eve.

I never read one of numerous books Westlake wrote under his real name, but the books he wrote as Richard Stark have been a vital part of my book diet ever since a trusted friend recommended them to me several years ago.  As I type this, ten of Stark’s “Parker” novels sit on my shelf, and I feel a distinct twinge of sadness that there will likely be no more.

The Parker books focus on a criminal named Parker–no last name given or needed– and his career as a professional thief.  While the books do have a recognizable formula, none of them ever feels predictable or formulaic.  They are very much reader’s books, and there were many times that I would complete one of the novels and actually feel smarter; the situations and the solutions presented in the plot were really that good, bordering pretty closely on genius.

One of the things I like the least about getting older is watching people I admire pass on.  Obscenely prolific, it seems that Westlake spent the bulk of his life doing exactly what he loved, pounding out book after book on his old manual typewriter, and, really, it’s that sort of life that I think everyone would want; a chance to do what we love to do for as long as our bodies will allow us to do it.

Though the publication started before his death, it seems a fitting memorial that the University of Chicago Press is republishing the notoriously hard-to-find Parker novels, starting with the first three, The Hunter, The Man with the Getaway Face, and The Outfit. You may already be familiar with the story of The Hunter; it was the basis of the 1999 film Payback.

I’ll likely try to work out a longer article about Westlake’s books for MEGATOKik.com, but for now, I would recommend that anyone reading this blog with an ounce of interesting in crime fiction checkout the newly minted copies of Stark’s books.  I love them.