In 2008 Donald E. Westlake was given the
Gumshoe Award
for Lifetime Achievement.
Written by Cameron Hughes
Donald Edwin Westlake (born July 12, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York) is a prolific American writer and novelist with over a hundred books to his credit. Perhaps best known for pioneering the comic caper novel with the John Dortmunder books, he also created one of the most original -- and ruthless -- criminal protagonists in the character of Parker (featured in a series of books written under the alias Richard Stark).
Looking at most criminal-as-protagonist novels, we can detect a sliver of humanity in their characters. Although the crimes depicted might be reprehensible, there is a justification given for them. They're done for a sick relative or perhaps to support a child. There is usually something to redeem the protagonist, to counteract the heinous nature of his crimes. But not Parker. He's motivated solely by greed and will let nothing get in the way of a score. He's a sociopath and a killer with few, if any, redeeming qualities. It's a brilliant series precisely because it's so inhuman.
The character of John Dortmunder is in much the same spirit as Parker. The Hot Rock started life as a Parker novel, but Westlake couldn't make it work, as the thief kept running into obstacle after obstacle. Frustrated, Westlake put the manuscript away, only to return to it years later with the realization that it was actually a comedy.
So Parker transformed into Dortmunder. Westlake has said he thinks of Dortmunder as the more realistic of the two, as he and his gang run into problems that could happen to anyone. Dortmunder and the people he works with are as smart and talented as Parker and his gang -- they just have really bad luck, usually with hilarious results. In many ways the humor of the Dortmunder novels only serves to underscore their hardboiled nature, making them even darker than the Parker books.
As good as the series books are, one of Westlake's best novels was a standalone. The Ax is the story of a middle-aged Midwestern man who gets laid off at the paper mill. Unable to find another job, and with a mortgage and a kid in college, he gets desperate and does, for him, the rational thing: he runs a fake advertisement for a job similar to his, and systematically bumps off whomever replies, thus eliminating the competition.
Although The Ax is darkly humorous, there is a real understanding of humanity, twisted as it is, behind it. The protagonist's actions are monstrous, but it's either that or he loses everything. As Westlake develops the character, we can see that, in his mind at least, he has no choice. The Coen brothers wish they could come up with a story half as good as The Ax.
Donald E. Westlake is one of those rare crime writers that can do it all. He's a brilliant plotter, constructing deliciously twisted worlds filled with both comedy and tragedy. His ear for dialogue is excellent and he has a gift for writing readable, flowing narrative. Best of all, Westlake nails character like few others, making every person he writes about unique, human and always interesting, even if he's been writing about them for decades.
At 74, he's still producing great works, like last year's Dortmunder caper What's So Funny? and this year's Parker novel Dirty Money. He's won all the awards, including the Shamus and the Edgar (three times, a number matched only by Joe Gores). He was named a Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America, and was nominated for an Oscar for adapting Jim Thompson's The Grifters for the big screen.
Westlake even wrote a horror movie, 1987's cult classic The Stepfather, about a man who marries into a family, intending to be Ward Cleaver, but when they don't measure up decides to kill them all instead.
There's an old argument about who's the better writer, Westlake or Stark. (I'm a Westlake man, while Montgomery prefers Stark). But no matter which horse you take in that race, Donald Westlake is a true treasure, a writer more than worth discovering. And that is why Mystery Ink is proud to present him with the Gumshoe Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Cameron Hughes reviews crime fiction for January Magazine and CHUD.
Posted by David J. Montgomery in Awards | Permalink
