Over the course of a fifty-year career, Donald Westlake published nearly one hundred books, including not one - but two - long-running series, starring the hard-hitting Parker and the hapless John Dortmunder. In the six years since his death, Westlake's reputation has only grown, with fans continuing to marvel at his tightly constructed plots, no-nonsense prose, and keen, even unsettling, insights into human behavior. With The Getaway Car, we get our first glimpse at another side of Westlake the writer: what he did when he wasn't busy making stuff up. And it's fascinating. Setting previously published pieces, many little-seen, alongside never-before-published material found in Westlake's working files, the book offers a clear picture of the man behind the books - including his background, experience, and thoughts on his own work and that of his peers, mentors, and influences. The book opens with revealing (and funny) fragments from an unpublished autobiography, then goes on to offer an extended history of private eye fiction, a conversation among Westlake's numerous pen names, letters to friends and colleagues, interviews, appreciations of fellow writers, and much, much more. There's even a recipe for Sloth a la Dortmunder. Really. Rounded out with a Foreword by Westlake's longtime friend Lawrence Block, The Getaway Car is a fitting capstone to a storied career, and a wonderful opportunity to revel anew in the voice and sensibility of a master craftsman.

About the Author
Donald E. Westlake (1933 - 2008) was a prolific author of crime fiction. In 1993, the Mystery Writers of America bestowed the society's highest honor on Westlake, naming him a Grand Master. Levi Stahl is the promotions director of the University of Chicago Press.

Reviews
"Westlake was a treasure and a delight to read - the man was incapable of writing a paragraph without being witty and memorable and wise - and Westlake on Westlake is enjoyable in the extreme." -Charles Ardai "Stahl has done a superb job of ... separating the best of the wheat from the rest of the wheat - Don didn't do chaff - and organizing and notating the result." -Lawrence Block, from the forward



Book Information
ISBN 9780226121819
Author Donald E. Westlake
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 369g
Dimensions(mm) 23mm * 15mm * 2mm