The chronological trove of published novels and collections isn’t the only treasure in Don’s personal library. There are also several storage bins of periodicals containing Don’s published short stories, articles, essays and even a poem! This is a mountain of work that needs to be tackled if the DEW bibliography is ever going to be complete. The work has begun Read More …
Don’s seventh grandchild After a hiatus as I moved my family from Brooklyn to the Hudson Valley and witnessed the birth of my “way above average cute” daughter (according to a third party, honest!), I’m busily trying catch up on the latest DEW-related news and updating this website as quickly as possible. On to the report. New eBooks from our Read More …
After a bit of a hiatus, the work on rebuilding Don’s bibliography continues. I’m building a spreadsheet that will become the sortable master list for every edition in Don’s personal library. Look for a sneak peek next week. In the meantime, below is a list of book pages with new images from the many editions in the library. Some are Read More …
I apologize for the delay in approving comments over the past month or so but I have a good excuse. My wife and I welcomed our first child, Madelyn Elizabeth Westlake, into the world on June 24th. She is Don’s seventh grandchild but hopefully not his last. My only sorrow is that she will never get to meet her amazing Read More …
Opening weekend has come and gone and the results are in. “Parker” came in 5th overall at the box office with a $7 million take over three days in more than 2,000 theaters nationwide. One of my pet peeves with the stenographic nature of American journalism is the fixation on opening weekend box office results. The only people who really Read More …
Propelled by what is probably the most aggressive and persuasive marketing campaign for any of the movies based on the Richard Stark novels, Parker, from the book, Flashfire, starts its theatrical run tomorrow. And I really can’t say enough about the marketing campaign, which has landed in my living room more times than I can count. Almost every person I Read More …
The first of what is slated to be several movies based on the Parker series (originally published under the pseudonym Richard Stark) is due to be released in January, 2013. The first trailer (below) is already out and beginning to make the rounds in theaters. And the die-hard DEW fans are already deep in discussion on the merits of the Read More …
The project of rebuilding the Westlake bibliography continues and there are still a few surprises to be found. Yet another pseudonym has been uncovered but it mostly belongs to another author, Laurence Janifer (aka Larry Mark Harris). The title in question was very likely finished by Don when Harris was unable to meet his deadline. You can read about it Read More …
The epic project of building a database and uploading images from every copy of every book in Don’s personal library has begun. The full collection containing one copy of every edition of every book in print, and in every language, numbers in the hundreds. Several hundreds. So far, I’ve been able to catalog the first 41. The 41st book in Read More …
Donald Westlake was nothing if not thorough. In fact, there’s a very strong case to be made that he was a bit OCD, if not for the countervailing case to be made out of the disorder of his filing system. Suffice it to say, the things he cared about received detailed attention and the things he didn’t care for… um… Read More …
Along with the other back-end trouble I had with the old host, I lost the ability to embed audio files in a reliable way. Well, that’s all over now, thanks partly to the migration, improvements in the new WordPress update and the existence of SoundCloud. There are currently only three audio tracks on the entire site and all three are Read More …
Back on March 11, when this website was still in the throes of technical difficulties, I had the pleasure of joining in on a podcast discussion of The Comedy is Finished with Jesse Willis from SFF Audio and Trent Reynolds from The Violent World of Parker. Both gentlemen are well-read, insightful and great fun to chat with and listen to. Read More …
Been a long time getting this site back to normal. Lots of updates while it was in safe mode. There will definitely be separate blog posts coming in the near future but, for now, here’s an annotated list of the doings in the past few months… Violent World of Parker Happy Birthday to Donald Westlake [Editor’s note: Special thanks Read More …
At long last, the site has been migrated over to the new host and the back-end works again! I have full control of the website for the first time in months. Big, tremendous thanks to those who left messages or sent emails offering to help. Sorry for the lack of communication but I have to pay the bills, too, and Read More …
After a long delay, I hope to reset the site with a new host very soon. Meanwhile, here’s an interview I did with Maxim Jakubowski while on a recent trip through London. Until 2009, Maxim was the owner of the Murder One Bookshop on Charring Cross Road in London. The store had to close due to the pressures of big Read More …
