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Buy the Book
Joie de Vivre in a Trench Coat
The late Robert B. Parker is enjoying a literary life after death.
(Page 2 of 2)
Throughout his many works Parker, and his readers, also had fun at the expense of feminist, environmentalist, and food extremists. He takes the hide off of academe for the many egregious offenses there (he was in the belly of that beast for a decade). His defense of the manly virtues alone is enough to give him an ideological pass.
Spenser is all for sexual equality, but doesn’t for a second entertain the absurd modern notion that men and women, save for size, strength, and plumbing, are more or less the same. Life for Spenser is to be enjoyed as we find it and not hobbled by the fanciful abstractions that so bedevil leftists. Now that’s a TAS approach.
TAS regulars can’t spend all their time reading about unfunded mandates and other perfidies of the left. For the well-earned fiction break, I raise up the entertainments of Robert B. Parker, especially the Spenser novels. After a few hours with Spenser, hardy conservatives can return to the battle refreshed and confident.
About the Author
Larry Thornberry is a writer in Tampa.
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Tom Warwick| 12.20.10 @ 7:22AM
Early on, I enjoyed Parker. He was everything as described. Some years back, though, his books took on a "Liberal Preachiness" that destroyed the flavor. I stopped reading them for that reason. Pity.
Bob K.| 12.20.10 @ 8:52AM
I never thought they were preachy or political in the sense that other crime writers like Sara Paretsky's novels were/are. I stopped reading hers long ago for that reason.
I skim through new crime writers novels and if I see any of this I don't buy them. It is OK to comment on the conditions that may have caused the incident written about and another thing to lay the blame for it based on ones political biases.
David Guaspari | 12.20.10 @ 7:33AM
The audio recordings are also a treat. Joe Montegna is the perfect Parker.
D| 12.20.10 @ 7:41AM
I read the first eight or so of the Spenser books, then lost interest -- exactly why, I can't remember, except that they seemd to be getting tedious.
Anthony| 12.20.10 @ 11:29AM
For me, the Spencer books were way too formulatic, predictable, and just plain unreal. They were like reading cotton candy, ligh,t with no substance.
It's as Bob K said, Parker just plugged in his formula and out came a vanilla story.
But he seemed like a good guy and dog lover.
Bob K.| 12.20.10 @ 8:40AM
Sometimes I would think that he got lazy or possibly bored with his formula (he wrote so many) but then he would come up with a good one that was up there with his best.
This is one of those.
Tina B| 12.20.10 @ 9:03AM
From Mother to daughter to son, we have been passing on the Spenser novels spanning almost 50 years in my family. Parker has amused us, uplifted us, and given us many fine bonding moments. Personally, I prefer Robert Urich's version of Spenser and Avery Brooks as his buddy Hawk, but it is the dialogue that sometimes makes me put the book down for a minute and say "Why, why Lord, can't I write a line like that?" Thanks, Parker, and see you in Heaven, I hope,
Dennis Collins| 12.20.10 @ 9:41AM
A few hours each night of escape, whether to Boston, Paradise, or Appaloosa, is very relaxing and an escape from the tediousness of this life. Thanks Mr. Thornberry, but most of all, thanks to Robert B. Parker
LarryK| 12.20.10 @ 9:44AM
You convinced me, I'm going to pick up a Spenser mystery or two and check them out. But I think you have Ross MacDonald and his PI Lew Archer wrong. Archer is more worldly-wise and stoic than dark and cynical. I also think MacDonald sets the standard for mystery/crime fiction with realistic characters and psychological depth, but I'm interested to see how Parker compares.
Christopher| 12.20.10 @ 10:49AM
Read all the Spenser books, the early ones were the best. About ten years ago, he started writing too much about Susan and her dog. Liked it better when he and Hawk and Vinny were after the bad guys, except that Hawk and Vinny were professional killers, and Parker made them likable.
At least Parker kept his politics out of the stories, for the most part, RIP.
Ron| 12.20.10 @ 11:17AM
I had been hoping for years that Spenser's great love Susan Silverman would die . . . but I hate to get my wish fulfilled this way.
Bob Marsh| 12.20.10 @ 11:40AM
Unlike some others who offered comments, I never tired of Dr. Parker's novels. I especially liked his Jesse Stone series, brought to life by Tom Selleck, one of the few conservatives in liberal Hollywood.
Padoux| 12.20.10 @ 12:25PM
I am an avid mystery novel reader and the Spenser novels were great. Compared to many authors I've read, Parker didn't hit the reader over the head with politics and Spenser's methods were anything but a liberal's idea of justice. To boot, his characters delivered funny and sarcastic lines aplenty which always made me smile. Spenser's repartees with Hawk and Susan were classic. Parker, we shall miss ye.
james wilson| 12.20.10 @ 12:57PM
All private-eye novelists are liberals. It gives them license to escape their little prisons for a time, but they manage to throw in an apology or two along the way so their friends will be understanding. James Burke is the most conflicted offender, and the best.
wolflen| 12.20.10 @ 1:42PM
parker made spenser such a nice guy..even when he killed people...try as he did...i could not like susan ...yes his work was cookie cutter...but he did some good variations on a theme..but in the end they were very "light" versions of a crime novel...for the real thing...try elmore leonard's detroit based novels--it dosen't get any better..
Paul Sand | 12.20.10 @ 1:50PM
Just a quibble. From Stardust:
"Do you have a first name, Mr. Spenser?"" Jill said. She had a soft girlish voice with just a hint of huskiness at the edges. I told her my first name.
"I don't like it," she said.
"I was afraid you wouldn't," I said. "I've been worried about it all month."
SF_Exile| 12.20.10 @ 3:56PM
It's good news to hear that a couple new Spenser rounds are in the chamber. I was in a funk for a good week when I read of his death.
As with any genre, there is a certain amount of formula involved. But, for me and I'm sure many others, that formula also means things just chug along nicely, the characters and their ways as familiar as a favorite ratty T-shirt. I especially loved Parker's ability to use the local flavor as an ongoing sidekick in his novels. Anyone who has lived in and around Boston for a time confirms the ring of truth in the dialogue, the accuracy in describing the city and its prickly citizens.
An author I've discovered here in SF is Joe Gores. As an ex-PI himself, (among other things) his novels which revolve around a set of characters who are repo men (and women) put San Francisco and the Bay area to good use. For anyone who is a Hammett fan, read his prequel, "Spade and Archer". It won't be a waste of time.
Bill| 12.20.10 @ 5:02PM
I realized what a true master Parker is when I viewed the first Jesse Stone made-for-TV movie that was not written by Parker. The first Jesse Stone movies were, like the books, truly entertaining. The last two movies were not nearly as good. Parker had a real ability with dialogue not shared by many.
Debbie| 12.21.10 @ 2:34AM
What I loved about Spenser was his code of honor, the same code found in Hitch and Cole. It doesn't get any better.
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skip| 12.21.10 @ 12:23PM
I hate liberalism with a passion. Considering how worthlessly liberal Boston has become Parker has many conservative qualities. To think this nation began in Boston; it has become a huge bastion of anticonstitutionalism. Kennedy, Kerry, Frank, what more needs to be said. I have all the Spenser, Stone, Randall, Cole/Hitch, and stand alone novels Parker has written. The dialogue with Hawk is classic. Susan wears on me for sure. She is really his wife Joan. Love is indeed blind. The pro homosexual tint can be explained by the orientation of both his sons. "Painted Ladies might be the 38th best of the 38 Spenser novels, but that is not so much because the book is lacking as it is to say the others are just better.
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