Rating: 
Summary: One Case Where the Film was Probably Better
Review: This is a product of the lazy, latter-day Leonard who knows he's a great writer who can just sit back and let it flow. The onetime master of concision now takes a hundred-odd pages just to set things up.
Even his ear for dialogue has started to fade on him. Now everybody like, y'know, talks like, uhh, some kinda boob, get what I'm sayin'? The line of self-parody is lying a little too close in these pages.
He still has a hand with the quirky minor characters, though they can't carry an entire 350-page plus novel. But this one did make it clear to me why Leonard is so popular with the pomo crowd: his characters inhabit an utterly amoral universe, one with no values or standards whatsoever. Here, e.g., the protagonist is that well-known figure drawn from life, the friendly, easygoing loan shark. In your traditional crime novel--Chandler or either MacDonald can serve as examples--the action occurs against a hard-edged moral framework that is at least given lip service. Now I won't demand that every piece of fiction act as a morality play. But this was a case where I finished the thing, and kind of enjoyed the ride, but didn't like myself for it. In Leonard's recent novels, all that matters is who gets to take home the candy. And when you get right down to it, that just ain't enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Elmore Leonard spoofing Elmore Leonard?!?
Review: 'Get Shorty' is certainly a most unusual novel from Elmore Leonard. Sure there is the quirky criminal characterizations Leonard is famous for, complete with some very funny moments. But it seems that the author tried something a bit tricky by doing a Hollywood 'spin' on an Elmore Leonard novel and, well, the results are decidedly mixed.In 'Get Shorty' we have the usual south Florida loan shark nasties out to get someone who does not want to pay. This fellow lands a bundle on an insurance scam and runs to Hollywood. One of the nasties (well, I guess he is reformed nasty) chases him down and gets involved with Hollywood luvvies (actors, writers, producers). He then, ... here's the gimmick..., finds his adventures to be of more interest to film makers than another script originally being peddled to producers. Anyway, it gets all a bit complicated and just a wee bit contrived. Big disappoint to Leonard fans: the crime element to 'Get Shorty' is not the highlight of the book. Bottom line: an unusual Elmore Leonard book which will probably not please his fans. However its humour and digs at the Hollywood establishment make it a worthy read ... just.
Rating:
Summary: INCOMPLETE
Review: This book was a fast read, too fast as far as I'm concerned. The way it ends it didn't seem that anything had really been solved. Chili seems a little put off by actors and Hollywood at the end, but I wasn't completely sure what he was going to do after the last climactic studio meeting. This is a good book, but there needed to be more to it. I was expecting more of a Hollywood spoof, but this seemed primarily concerned with the conflict between Chili and Bo Catlett and their various illegal activities. I think it would have been funny to actually see Chili and Bo working on a movie, just to see how they'd react to certain situations and what kind of movie they could put out. I'll have to see the movie to see if it's any better, but the book was decent. I really liked the character of Chili Palmer, though I was lukewarm on most of the others. Given the shortness of the book and its overall lighthearted tone, I'd recommend this book for some light reading on a long trip.
| 
