In Pursuit of Spenser
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Authors: Otto Penzler
Tags: #Non Fiction, #Literary Collections, #Essays, #Literary Criticism
IN
PURSUIT
OF
SPENSER
“A
close and revealing examination of Robert B. Parker—the author, the man, and the husband—brought to life by the observations and insights of fellow authors who knew him and his work. Extraordinary!”
—JOAN PARKER
IN
PURSUIT
OF
SPENSER
MYSTERY WRITERS ON
ROBERT B. PARKER
AND THE CREATION of an AMERICAN HERO
EDITED BY OTTO PENZLER
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COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“Songs Spenser Taught Me” © 2012 by Ace Atkins
“Voice of the City” © 2012 by Dennis Lehane
“They Like the Way it Sounds” © 2012 by Lawrence Block
“Spenser’s Code of Humor” © 2012 by Parnell Hall
“Parker and Spenser: A Collaboration” © 2012 by Loren D. Estleman
“Bob, Boston, and Me: A Remembrance” © 2012 by Jeremiah Healy
“A Man for All Seasonings” © 2012 by Brendan DuBois
“Spenser and the Art of the Family Table” © 2012 by Lyndsay Faye
“Looking for Hawk” © 2012 by Gary Phillips
“Who Is Silverman, What Is She?” © 2012 by S.J. Rozan
“A Look at Spenser for Hire” © 2012 by Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens
“Go East, Young Man: Robert B. Parker, Jesse Stone, and Spenser” © 2012 by Reed Farrel Coleman
“Parker Saddles Up: The Westerns of Robert B. Parker” © 2012 by Ed Gorman
“Spenser: A Profile” © 2012 by Robert B. Parker. Originally published by The Mysterious Bookshop.
“Introduction” and Other Materials © 2012 by Otto Penzler
For Joan Parker and,
in affectionate memory,
Bob
CONTENTS
Otto Penzler
Ace Atkins
Dennis Lehane
Lawrence Block
Parnell Hall
Loren D. Estleman
PARKER AND SPENSER: A COLLABORATION
Jeremiah Healy
BOB, BOSTON, AND ME: A REMEMBRANCE
Brendan DuBois
Lyndsay Faye
SPENSER AND THE ART OF THE FAMILY TABLE
Gary Phillips
S.J. Rozan
WHO IS SILVERMAN, WHAT IS SHE?
Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens
Reed Farrel Coleman
GO EAST, YOUNG MAN: ROBERT B. PARKER, JESSE STONE, AND SPENSER
Ed Gorman
PARKER SADDLES UP: THE WESTERNS OF ROBERT B. PARKER
Robert B. Parker
A Bibliography of the Works of Robert B. Parker
| OTTO PENZLER |
APART FROM THEIR
affection for dramatic stories with the classic Greek arc of a beginning, middle, and end, aficionados of mystery fiction agree on virtually nothing. One significant exception to that generality is in the realm of the hardboiled private detective story, where there is virtually no disagreement that the trajectory of its greatest proponents is a straight line from Dashiell Hammett to Raymond Chandler to Ross Macdonald to Robert B. Parker.
It is Carroll John Daly who actually invented the form, producing the universally acknowledged first hardboiled private eye story with “Three Gun Kelly,” which featured Terry Mack and ran in the May 15, 1923, issue of
Black Mask
magazine. Daly built on his historical significance by writing a Race Williams story, “Knights of the Open Palm,” for the
June 1, 1923, issue of
Black Mask
. When he wrote a second Race Williams story, “Three Thousand to the Good,” for the July 15, 1923, issue, he had created the first series character in the history of the hardboiled dick. Just as there subsequently have been better airplanes than their Kitty Hawk contraption, it is Wilbur and Orville Wright who will always be remembered for getting there first, and this is Daly’s place—though he is less remembered today than either the Wright brothers or the infinitely superior tough-guy writer who immediately followed him, Dashiell Hammett.
While Daly was little more than a creative hack writer, Hammett elevated the private eye story to the status of serious literature. Arguments persist about whether Hammett influenced Ernest Hemingway’s work or the other way around, but publishing chronology cannot be debated, much to the disgust of those academics and critics who refuse to concede the irrefutable point that the best mystery fiction can, and should, be accepted for its significant literary contributions.
Hammett’s first story about the Continental Op, the nameless detective, or operative, who worked for the Continental Detective Agency, appeared in
Black Mask
on October 1, 1923. The outstanding character appeared in many further stories, as well as in Hammett’s first two novels,
Red Harvest
(1927) and
The Dain Curse
(1928). Hemingway’s first book,
In Our Time
, was published in Paris in a limited edition in 1924 and in the United States in 1925 with a tiny print run of 1,335 copies, by which time Hammett was already a well-established and highly popular regular contributor to the most important pulp magazine of its era (or any era, for that matter). It is possible, of course, that two profoundly brilliant writers separately turned away from the prevalent style of the time, the orotund prose of Henry James and his Victorian predecessors, to the lean, swift, straightforward dialogue
and exposition that raced a narrative to its conclusion. However, just in case someone wants to open the conversation, one need only compare the dates of first publications to reach the only possible conclusion: Hammett deserves to be in the literary pantheon with the greatest of the greats.