NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer best known for two long-running New York-set series, about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, respectively. Block was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1993. A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: Location of Buffalo in New York State County Erie County Government - Mayor Byron Brown Area - City 52. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... This article is in need of attention. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or content. ... Sherlock Holmes, pipe-puffing hero of crime fiction, confers with his colleague Dr. Watson; together these characters popularized the genre. ... Mystery fiction is a distinct subgenre of detective fiction that entails the occurrence of an unknown event which requires the protagonist to make known (or solve). ... Lawrence J. Block (born 1951 in New York City, New York, United States) is an American federal judge on the United States Court of Federal Claims who was confirmed on October 2, 2002. ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... A private investigator, private detective, PI, or private eye, is a person who undertakes investigations, usually for a private citizen or some other entity not involved with a government or police organization. ... Matthew Scudder is a fictional private investigator, the most famous and enduring creation of American crime writer Lawrence Block. ... The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or gens, and man, cognate with the French word gentilhomme, the Spanish gentilhombre and the Italian gentil uomo or gentiluomo), in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, the Latin generosus (its invariable translation in English... Bernie Rhodenbarr is the fictional protagonist of the Burglar series of mystery novels by Lawrence Block. ... Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York. ...

Biography

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Lawrence Block attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, but left before graduating. His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the 1950s, was mostly in the porn paperback industry, an apprenticeship he shared with fellow mystery author Donald E. Westlake. The first of his "own" work to appear was the 1957 story "You Can't Lose." He has since published more than fifty novels and more than a hundred short stories, as well as a series of books for writers. Nickname: Location of Buffalo in New York State County Erie County Government - Mayor Byron Brown Area - City 52. ... Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, one of six campuses of the Antioch University system. ... Donald Edwin Westlake (born July 12th, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York), is a prolific American writer, with over a hundred books, specializing in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional bit of science fiction. ...

Block has lived in New York City for decades, setting most of his fiction there, and has come to be very closely associated with the city. He is married to Lynne Block, and has three daughters from an earlier marriage. With Lynne, he spends much of his time travelling (the two have been to nearly 100 countries), but continues to consider New York his home.

Matthew Scudder

Block's most famous creation, the ever-evolving Matthew Scudder, was introduced in 1976's The Sins of the Fathers as an alcoholic ex-cop working as an unlicensed private investigator in Hell's Kitchen. Originally published as paperbacks, the early novels are interchangeable; the second and third entries — In the Midst of Death (1976) and Time to Murder and Create (1977) — were written in the opposite order. 1982's Eight Million Ways to Die (filmed in 1988 by Hal Ashby, with unpopular results) breaks from that trend, concluding with Scudder introducing himself at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The series was set to end on that note, but an idle promise Block had made to supply an editor friend with an original Scudder short resulted in "By the Dawn's Early Light," a story set during the character's drinking days, but told from the perspective of a recoverer. Block expanded on that with 1986's When the Sacred Ginmill Closes (named for a line in a song by folk singer Dave Van Ronk, a close friend), which proved not only one of the most literary entries, but also a favorite of the author and his fans. From then on, Scudder's circumstances rarely remain the same from one book to the next; 1990's A Ticket to the Boneyard, for example, reunites him with Elaine Mardell, a hooker from his days on the force, whom he marries several books later. Other high points are 1991's taut, gruesome A Dance at the Slaughterhouse (winner of the Edgar award for best Mystery Novel), and 1993's A Long Line of Dead Men, an ingeniously-plotted puzzler featuring a rapidly dwindling fraternity known as the "Club of 31." The sixteenth entry in the series, All the Flowers Are Dying, was published in early 2005. Matthew Scudder is a fictional private investigator, the most famous and enduring creation of American crime writer Lawrence Block. ... View from between 47th and 48th street on Ninth Avenue looking north toward Time Warner Center and Hearst Tower Hells Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City that includes roughly the area between 34th Street and 57th Street, from... Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 - December 27, 1988) was an American film director and Academy Award winner. ... Logo for AA Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an informal society for recovering alcoholics. ... Dave Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 â€“ February 10, 2002) was a folk singer born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York City, and was nicknamed the Mayor of MacDougal Street. ... The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. ...

Though it's been suggested that Scudder's struggle with alcoholism is in part autobiographical, Block has repeatedly refused to discuss the subject, citing AA's own preference for anonymity.

Bernie Rhodenbarr

Block's other major series, much lighter in tone, relates the misadventures of gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Unlike Scudder, Rhodenbarr is ageless, remaining essentially the same from 1977's Burglars Can't Be Choosers, to the tenth and most recent entry, 2004's The Burglar on the Prowl. The only significant advancements come in the third volume, The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling (1979) which sees Bernie having used the spoils from his previous caper to buy a bookstore, and introduces Carolyn Kaiser, his lesbian "soulmate" and partner in crime. The plots run very much to form: Bernie breaks into a residence (usually on Manhattan's Upper East Side), and, through a series of implausible events, becomes involved in a murder investigation - often as the prime suspect. Not even an eleven-year hiatus (between 1983's The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian and 1994's The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams) would see that basic formula change. There is, however, a meta quality to the more recent entries: Bernie, the reluctant detective, is himself a bookseller and genre fan, and is apt to make references to Agatha Christie, E.W. Hornung (his cat is named "Raffles"), Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Sue Grafton and John Sandford, among others. The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart (1995) exploits this to full effect: set during a Humphrey Bogart film festival, the story is itself inspired by many of the actor's most famous roles. The Burglar in the Library (1997) similarly imagines a meeting between Hammet and Chandler at a New England inn in the 1940s, casting a volume inscribed by Hammet to Chandler as its own Maltese Falcon. The Burglar in the Rye is one of the more intriguing books in the series, as Bernie works to track down a writer clearly based on J.D. Salinger as reflected in the title. The Burglar in The Closet was filmed in 1987 as Burglar, with Whoopie Goldberg as Bernie (now short for "Bernice"). The Upper East Side at Sunset The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. ... Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890â€”12 January 1976), also known as Dame Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... Ernest William Hornung (June 7, 1866, Middlesbrough, England - March 22, 1921, St. ... A.J. (Arthur J.) Raffles is a character created by E. W. Hornung, a brother-in-law to Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. ... Samuel Dashiell Hammett (May 27, 1894 â€“ January 10, 1961) was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. ... Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 â€“ March 26, 1959) was an author of crime stories and novels. ... Sue Taylor Grafton (born April 24, 1940 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA) is a contemporary American author of detective novels. ... Although there are probably many men (maybe even women) with this name, here are a few individuals that are internationally known and could be confused with one another: John Loren Sandford (): well-known Christian author Official website Find his books on Amazon. ... Humphrey DeForest Bogart (December 25, 1899 â€“ January 14, 1957) was an American actor. ... The Maltese Falcon is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett which was made into a quintessential film noir. ... Jerome David Salinger (born January 1, 1919) is an American author best known for The Catcher in the Rye, a classic coming-of-age story that has enjoyed enduring popularity since its publication in 1951. ... Buglar is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson and distributed by Warner Bros. ... Sarafina movie poster featuring Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson, better known by her stage name, Whoopi Goldberg (born November 13, 1955 in New York City â€” although many sources indicate 1949), is a well-known American movie actress, comedian, and singer. ...

Other works

Besides Scudder and Rhodenbarr, Block has written eight novels about Evan Tanner, an adventurer and accidental revolutionary who, as a result of an injury sustained in the Korean War, cannot sleep. All but the last of these were published in the '60s and early '70s (beginning with 1966's The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep), while the most recent, 1998's Tanner on Ice, revived the character after a nearly a thirty-year hiatus. Three episodic novels (Hit Man, Hit List, and Hit Parade) rework and combine a series of stories about Keller, a lonely, wistful hitman who originally appeared as a semi-regular feature in Playboy magazine in the 1990s. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States Medical staff: Denmark, Australia, Italy, Norway, Sweden Communist states: Democratic Peopleâ€™s Republic of Korea, Peoples Republic of China, Soviet Union Commanders... Playboy is an American Mens magazine, founded in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, which has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc. ...

Small Town (2003), Block's first non-series book in fifteen years, details a group of New Yorkers' varying responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Block has also written dozens of short stories over the years, and he is the only three-time winner of the Edgar Award for Best Short Story. The 2002 collection Enough Rope compiles stories, 84 in all, from earlier collections, such as Like a Lamb to Slaughter and Sometimes They Bite, along with new and previously uncollected stories. The World Trade Center on fire The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. ... The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. ...

In addition to writing the scripts for a handful of television episodes over the years—including, in 2005, two episodes of the ESPN series Tilt—Block co-wrote the screenplay for My Blueberry Nights, a 2007 film directed by Wong Kar-wai and starring Norah Jones.^[1] ESPN, formerly an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ... Tilt is a US TV series set against the backdrop of the World Poker Championships in Las Vegas, and with the tagline Youre playing poker. ... My Blueberry Nights is a 2007 film directed by Wong Kar Wai. ... Wong Kar-wai (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Cantonese Yale: WÃ²hng GÃ Waih; Shanghainese Latin method: Wan Kawe; born July 17, 1958) is a Hong Kong film director known for his visually unique, highly stylized art films. ... Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar on March 30, 1979 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and occasional actress. ...

Selected bibliography

Matthew Scudder novels

Bernie Rhodenbarr novels

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Evan Tanner novels

Chip Harrison novels (as Chip Harrison)

Otto Penzler (born July 8, 1942) is a well-known publisher and editor of mystery fiction in the United States and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives. ...

Keller novels

Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Breakfast at Tiffanys illustration by Robert McGinnis Robert E. McGinnis (born 1926) is an American illustrator known for his illustrations of paperback book covers and movie posters, including Breakfast at Tiffanys, Barbarella, and several James Bond films. ...

Other fiction

Books for writers

References

The New York Sun is a contemporary daily newspaper published in New York City. ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

External links

Categories: American crime fiction writers | American mystery writers | American novelists | American short story writers | Edgar Award winners | New York writers | People from Manhattan | People from Buffalo, New York | Antioch College alumni | 1938 births | Living people The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: Location of Buffalo in New York State County Erie County Government - Mayor Byron Brown Area - City 52. ...

Contents

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