Elmore Leonard Summary

Leonard, Elmore (1925—) American author Elmore "Dutch" Leonard is often mentioned in the same class as Ross Macdonald and Dashiell Hammett as a writer whose work exceeds the expec... Read more

Elmore Leonard has been called the greatest living writer of crime fiction. His novels have been compared to the works of the acknowledged masters of the genre, Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. ... Read more

Dubbed "The Dickens of Detroit" by Time magazine in 1984, Elmore Leonard has written more than thirty novels, as well as many short stories and screenplays. He began his writing career in the early 1... Read more

Critical Essay by Newgate Callendar When Elmore Leonard's "Fifty-Two Pickup" appeared in 1974, it had some critics talking in terms of Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. "... Read more

Critical Essay by The Times Literary Supplement In Elmore Leonard's The Hunted … Ed Rosen, head of a million-dollar mortgage company, is blackmailed by the Justice Department into testif... Read more

Critical Essay by Robin Winks Elmore Leonard has written his toughest book in City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit…. It's too bad Leonard felt he needed a subtitle, for the theme is obvio... Read more

Critical Essay by Jonathan Yardley Leonard's bandwagon had left the station by the time I heard its music, and I've had to do some running to catch up. But better late than never: Leonar... Read more

Critical Essay by Raymond Obstfeld I read an article about [Elmore Leonard] in Writer's Digest a few months ago and went out and bought his City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit…. It... Read more

In the following review, Morley offers a mixed assessment of Glitz. You've heard about Elmore Leonard—probably sometime in the last ten days. After a long career of writing pulp Westerns... Read more

In the following essay, Hynes surveys Leonard's career, noting various qualities unique to the author's works. Elmore Leonard is perhaps as popular as a writer can hope to be. After twen... Read more

The following is Lochte's laudatory review of Pronto. Elmore Leonard begins his 31st novel [Pronto] with a Miami bookmaker, Harry Arno, about to tell his girlfriend Joyce his biggest secret. Bu... Read more

The following is Worth's positive review of Riding the Rap. Elmore Leonard has been writing great crime fiction for years with the same cozy formulas, the same cast of South Florida rednecks an... Read more

In the following essay, Prial surveys Leonard's life and career, and includes commentary by the author on his works and personal experiences. Birmingham, Mich. There's a tendency in this... Read more

In the following mixed review of Bandits, D'Evelyn asserts that the novel does not live up to Leonard's abilities as a "master craftsman" of crime novels. Elmore Leonard is... Read more

In the following excerpt, Edwards provides a largely positive assessment of Bandits. Even those who don't care for crime fiction may like what Elmore Leonard makes of it, especially his way of ... Read more

In the following essay, Sandels surveys Leonard's crime novels and reveals how the author departs from and provides commentary on traditional crime story formulas; Sandels also delineates stand... Read more