A Fond Farewell to the Man Who Saved P.I. Fiction By Cameron Hughes I just always assumed that detective novelist Robert B. Parker was immortal, like some kind of literary Highlander. It was actually easy to think so. Writing three books a year, he always seemed to have a new one out or on its … Continue reading Looking for Robert B. Parker
Tag: Robert B. Parker
From Spenser to Yeats: Jane Yeats, That Is
Feminism's Version of the Hard-boiled Sleuth is on the Wagon and Rides a Harley An Essay by Jill Edmondson Start with one serving of fingertips severed during a rather unfortunate version of Miller time. Blend in a blinding hangover buttressed by a British beer. Add the roar of a Harley drowning out the raspy hacking … Continue reading From Spenser to Yeats: Jane Yeats, That Is
Hawk (A Man Called Hawk)
Created by Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) Developed for television by Stephen Hattman and William Robert Yates "You push yourself till you can't stand the pain, then you push yourself a little bit more.'' -- Hawk counsels black youth He's big, he's Black and he's mean. And he knows you didn't watch his show!!! It's generally … Continue reading Hawk (A Man Called Hawk)
Arlo, Janis & Spenser
Plugs for Hire Department It's no secret that Robert B. Parker (or at least his Boston private eye Spenser, had a thing for Jimmy Johnson's Arlo and Janis comic strip. He mentioned the strip frequently in his books, perhaps most notably in Back Story (2003). Even Parker's successor, Ace Atkins, has Spenser still reading the … Continue reading Arlo, Janis & Spenser
Now I know why they called it “Spenser Confidential”
They didn't want the word to get out... Mark Wahlberg would make a great Spenser. Maybe he should play him sometime. Because anyone who's ever read any of Parker's novels (or those by his successor Ace Atkins) knows that whoever the hell Wahlberg was playing in Netflix's 2020 TV flick Spenser Confidential, it wasn't Spenser. Or … Continue reading Now I know why they called it “Spenser Confidential”
Urich for Hire
The Private Eye Shows of Robert Urich First of all, let me set the record straight: I don't hate Robert Urich. I am not "spitting on his grave," "disrespecting the man" or being a "jerk wad." But over the years, my general disappointment with the Spenser for Hire TV series--and the casting of actor Robert Urich … Continue reading Urich for Hire
The Beers of Spenser
The Beerhunter? For a while there, it really seemed like Robert B. Parker's Spenser had a quest. No, not some knightly search for some old cup that's been kicking around for a couple of millennium, or something so shop-worn as a lady fair or even honesty, beauty or true love. Nope, Spenser's quest was for... … Continue reading The Beers of Spenser
Nick and Holly West
Created by Joan H. Parker & Robert B. Parker "We have money. We do this because we like to." -- Holly in "Galahad, Inc." Dashiell Hammett once said "Maybe there are better writers in the world but nobody ever invented a more insufferably smug pair of characters. They can't take that away from me" The … Continue reading Nick and Holly West
Joseph Burke
Created by Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) The creator of Spenser just couldn't seem to keep his paws off the past. His occasional forays into the past, including his fresh stab at the legend of Wyatt Earp (2001's Gunman's Rhapsody) and his period-piece dabblings with Chandler's Marlowe (Poodle Springs and Perchance To Dream) had been generally … Continue reading Joseph Burke
Robert B. Parker
(1932--2010) Well, the guy had balls, anyway. It's one thing to be compared to the Holy Trinity of Hammett, Chandler and Macdonald. It's quite another to elbow your way in. Particularly for Chandler fans who saw Parker first step into Chandler's hallowed shoes: his completion of Chandler's unfinished last Philip Marlowe novel, Poodle Springs, which … Continue reading Robert B. Parker