The Good Old Stuff: 13 Early Stories

by John D. MacDonald

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060150386
• ISBN13: 9780060150389
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 395 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.

Customer Reviews

BEFORE TRAVIS MCGEE & COLORIZED TITLES, THERE WAS PULP FICTION.

Five Stars!! John D. Macdonald could have gone in several directions in life (Wharton School of Finance and Harvard MBA graduate) and in literature ("Ballroom of the Skies" was great SciFi). But he followed up on this mystery direction, writing many "noir"-ish stories that became pulp fiction (Dime Detective magazine, Night Watch magazine, Detective Tales..) to hone his already considerable skills as shown in this 1985 paperbook. These 13 murder/mystery stories are excellent and not dated very much. And they are riveting because we can see elements of Travis McGee all over the place. Not a one refers to any colors in it's title, but the titles are grand: "Death Writes The Answer", "Breathe No More", "From Some Hidden Grave". But not as grand as the original titles "The Lady is a Corpse" and "This One Will Kill You". Noir all the way. But JDM acknowledges that he got a break that his pulp fiction brethren didn't get. Thank Goodness!! My personal copy of this paperback is dog-eared to the extent that no dog would chew on it, but it's readable with a good spine. And I keep it around like a fine old wine, reading and re-reading a few stories at a time over long periods and putting it back on the shelf for another time, usually following a great, brisk Travis McGee novel. My favorite, "Murder in Mind", with not one but two McGee prototypes in the same story. I love this stuff and that's why I bought it and keep it. Five Big "Tarantino" Stars for the JDM version of Pulp Fiction! (Note: there is another anthology called "More Good Old Stuff". Also there are over 20 Travis McGee novels with colorized titles like my favorite title, "The Dreadful Lemon Sky," and some really nifty ladies conjured up by JDM, but they really need to bring back the unusual pre-McGee novel "On The Run" with some truly memorable characters and situations.)