Born "Lombino" in New York City in 1926, Evan Hunter, under that pseudonym and the further noms de plume of Hunt Collins, Richard Marsten and Ed McBain, has published upward of 60 books of fiction since 1952, which should make him one of America's most prolific authors over the past 30 years. Lately, without greatly affecting production, Marsten and Collins have dropped from the picture. But in the banner year of 1956, all four were represented, McBain weighing in with three thrillers and Hunter contributing a collection of stories as well as a novel, for a total of seven full-length works.
One could more easily accept this kind of productivity from pornographers or pulp writers, but Mr. Hunter is neither. A number of his books, notably "Last Summer" (1968), have been well received, and his 1954 novel, "The Blackboard Jungle," was turned into what has become something of a film classic. (A master of swift, smart dialogue, Mr. Hunter himself penned the screenplay for Hitchcock's 1963 movie, "The Birds.") While his fiction has been called "aggressively topical," he has also been praised over the years for his professionalism and versatility, and Ed McBain's "87th Precinct Series" of gory detective novels has a loyal following. It does not appear, therefore, that awesome speed of composition necessarily entails a sacrifice in quality; and (here to let the matter rest) the judgment that some of his books are better than others can also be passed on the perpetrator of only 10 novels, or a mere five, or a pair.
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