Your Ad Could Be Here!

Mr. Westlake, considered one of the most successful and versatile mystery writers in the United States, received an Academy Award nomination for a screenplay, three Edgar Awards and the title of Grand Master from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993. Since his first novel, The Mercenaries, was published by Random House in 1960, Mr. Westlake had written under his own name and several pseudonyms, including Richard Stark, Tucker Coe, Samuel Holt and Edwin West. Despite the diversity of pen names, most of his books shared one feature: They were set in New York City, where he was born.

Mr. Westlake used different names in part to combat skepticism over his rapid rate of writing books, sometimes as many as four a year, his friends said. "In the beginning, people didn't want to publish more than one book a year by the same author," said Susan Richman, his publicist at Grand Central Publishing. Later in his career, Mr. Westlake limited himself to two pen names, each generally focusing on one primary character: He used his own name to write about an unintentionally comical criminal named John Dortmunder, and as Richard Stark wrote a series about an anti-hero and criminal named Parker. Mr. Westlake occasionally wrote about other characters, such as Burke Devore, the downsized executive turned murderer in The Ax, whom The New York Times described in 1997 "as emblematic of his time as George F. Babbitt and Holden Caulfield and Capt. John Yossarian were of theirs."

The full panoply of Mr. Westlake’s books was a spectacle to behold, his friends said. "We were in his library, this beautiful library surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of titles," said Laurence Kirshbaum, his agent, "and I realized that every single book was written by Donald Westlake, English-language and foreign-language editions."

| | Comments (View)



Fake Holocaust Love Story Fallout Continues

The fallout from the fake Holocaust love story continues. A children's book based on the story, Angel Girl, has been pulled from the shelves by the publisher.

Upon learning that the widely publicized Holocaust love story of Herman and Roma Rosenblat, which inspired the picture book Angel Girl, is not entirely true, Lerner Publishing Group announced yesterday that it would pull the book from shelves. Lerner imprint Carolhroda Books published Angel Girl by Laurie Friedman in September 2008. The house has canceled all pending reprints and is issuing refunds on all returned books. The company is no longer offering the book for sale and is recalling the book from the market.

Angel Girl retold a portion of Mr. Rosenblat's story about surviving a work camp during the Holocaust by receiving food from a girl from the other side of the fence, and then meeting this same girl many years later on a blind date in the U.S. and marrying her. After investigation by the New Republic, Rosenblat and his agent, Andrea Hurst, released statements on December 27, saying parts of his story were fabricated. Hurst's statement said that although Rosenblat's stories from the concentration camps were true, he invented the love story. Rosenblat also revealed that he made up the chance reunion with the girl."

We're starting to wonder how many memoirs published over the last decade aren't really memoirs at all. If you have a great story, just sell it as fiction.

Posted on January 1, 2009
Permalink | | | Comments (View)



Current Book Giveaways

The new book giveaways co-sponsored with our sister site, ReadersRead.com, include:

• Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Definitive Collection DVD Box Set. Fans of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective who solves crimes using his little grey cells, will adore this fabulous boxed set of the BBC series which starred the brilliant David Suchet.
  
  
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books, 3rd Edition by Harold D. Underdown (Alpha Books)
  
  
• A Silent Ocean Away by DeVa Gantt (Avon), a breathtaking saga of an extraordinary American family.
  
  
• Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon, an ingenious and mirthful exploration of small-town America. (Little, Brown)

**The new (optional) Book Giveaway Question is:

"It's time once again for our annual New Year's Resolutions. But instead of thinking of New Year's Resolutions for yourself (how boring!), why not think up some for other people? What New Year's Resolutions would you make for anyone in the public eye (e.g., pop stars, paparazzi, professional athletes, politicians, actors, authors, television programming decision-makers, book publishers etc.)? What would you like to see any of these people change about themselves or their policies (if they are decision- makers for the country) in 2009?"

There's no entry fee of any kind and all email addresses are kept strictly confidential. Winners are selected monthly from a random draw. The entry form for the Book Giveaways can be found here.

Posted on December 31, 2008
Permalink | | | Comments (View)