Rating: 
Summary: Not Leonard's best.
Review: This story gets old quickly. It has, like Leonard's other books, some interesting characters, but they didn't hold my interest.I also grew tired of the idea that Chili Palmer was writing his movie as the story developed - that got old fast. This almost seemed like an idea for a film sequel that was jotted down and then fleshed out to fit a book. If you are a fan, as I am, you will enjoy this book enough, but it falls far below what I've come to expect from this author.
Rating: 
Summary: it really is a good book
Review: i have read most of the reviews of this book. most seem to be putting it down, but in my humble opinion this is a really good book. people say its disjointed or not beleivable but then wait its fiction its not supposed to be next to reality in a real pure sense it can but thats not neccassary. this book is a very good read despite any shortcomings it may have i find very few. while other could not finish the book i read it very quickly which i find amazing since i read it during the school year at a time that the teachers chose to pile on the work but maybe to the detriment to my grade i couldnt put this book down. i have read quite a few elmore leonard books and i find this to be on par with all of them including get shorty which is of course supposed to be superior to the sequel to it. i find that to not be true and that this book actually beats it and the others i cant wait until this is a movie i cant wait. i can imagine maybe samuel l jackson as raji but who in hollywood could play a 200 pound gay samoan?
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing sequel--far below Leonard's ability
Review: Well I hear alot of derivative music but this was the first derivative novel I've read in a long time--All that was interesting and original in Get Shorty is simply repeated here without any new insights, plot or characters--Let's hope the next book returns to form!
Rating:
Summary: Elmore, look at me. Get out of Hollywood.
Review: An abysmal sequel to the far superior GET SHORTY, BE COOL is anything but. Leonard is usually a master of dialogue, but is sunk by his untiring effort to use every single bit of his research into the music business, every snippet, every sound bite, every phrase that he's gathered. Scene after scene drones on and on, with his characters chattering on about bands and acts that are already passe. Just when you think the plot's about to pick up, you're mired in a morass of "colorful" detail. And as for the plot, there hasn't been a "girl makes it in showbiz" story this sappy since the film, HEARTS OF FIRE. There are no characters who are vaguely worth feeling anything for, except perhaps Eliot, the giant Samoan, and even he's too little too late. The book concludes with some of the worst rap lyrics since fellow whitebread author Tom Wolfe's feeble attempts in A MAN IN FULL. Next time, let's pray that Elmore Leonard scoots back to Detroit or Miami, and stays the hell out of Hollywood. There's nothing sadder than a middle-aged author trying to "be cool" when the coolness reeks of research rather than actual living.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad, But Not as Good as Prior Leonard Thrillers
Review: More infatuation with shallow hollywood types (who deserve to be exposed this way). Chili Palmer marches on pursuing a marketable plot by examining his own day to day experiences and trying to make a screenplay out of a sow's ear. Much more enjoyable if you have already read "Get Shorty" because some of the funniest insights depend on the combined (Get Shorty and Be Cool) repetition of silly events only Hollywood types can consider "real". Hillarious at moments.
Rating:
Summary: Big disappointment
Review: The only thing that redeemed this book (unless you count the pat story line, trite dialogue and thin characterization) was Chili Palmer's uncanny ability to evoke the voice of John Travolta. I LOVED Get Shorty and was hoping that Be Cool would "one-up" it -- but it barely held my attention.
Rating: 
Summary: Chili settles down
Review: Well, so what. I think Dutch has earned the right to write what he wants, how he wants, when he wants. BE COOL reads as mundane as Hollywood or Entertainment Tonight; but it's still a good read. As far as revealing the "inside" of music business vs airplay, I worked 30 years in broadcast and Leonard's portrayal of the interaction has more smatterings of truth than most (esp. Jan Wenner). The highlight is the softening of Chili and him finding a lady who IS a lady. Nice to see bad guys settle down.
Rating:
Summary: Music World Doesn't Suit Chili
Review: Having enjoyed many of the movies based on Leonard's books (52 Pick-up, Get Shorty, and Out of Sight), I thought that I would venture into the purest of his art and read one of the novels firsthand. "Be Cool" features a great deal of insight into the music industry yet it didn't hold my attention well. I could hear Travolta uttering the lines of Chili Palmer, but some of the situations seemed highly implausible, from the relationship Chili has with the detective to his instant ability to manage a rock band. The ending was less than satisfying. If this is turned into a feature film, that part of the book will have to be "manufactured." Otherwise, the audience will fade out long before the film does.
Rating:
Summary: Sequels Suck
Review: Wow, I was really disappointed with this book. Mr. Leonard has written much better books and ,hopefully, will write better books. This book is totally half baked. The 'action' in the story is always told by Chili in conversation. And the Russian Mafia? Christ, someone should have told Elmore, "NO" If this were a movie and let's pray Travolta says "NO" it wouldn't even be a good dollar rental.
Rating:
Summary: A good sequel
Review: Being a big Elmore Leonard fan, I bought this book as soon as I saw it was available. I thought it was a clever follow-up to Get Shorty, which is truly a classic work. Although it did not surpass the first, I thought that Be Cool was an excellent read. However, the only problem I really had with it was that Leonard re-used too many of Chili Palmer's original catchphrases from Get Shorty, almost to the point where it got a little irritating. Chili used the line "Look at me," which was one of the best lines in Get Shorty, in Be Cool three or four times. Otherwise I thought it was very witty, and Leonard, as always, drew interesting and somewhat stereotypical characters that were conducive to funny situations
| 
