Unknown Man (Armchair detective library, #89)

by Elmore Leonard

• ISBN10: 0380670410
• ISBN13: 9780380670413
• Publish Date: 1 January 1984
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 July 2011
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Avon Books
• Format: Paperback
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

There’s a part in the middle of the book about alcoholics and AA and it’s too real, I’ve got to think, for it to be anything other than personal. It’s a beautiful part. It’s one of the best in the book. I think it’s why Elmore can do what he does like nobody else: so many parts of it are grounded in real life.

See, there was the hard way to do things and there was the easy way. The hard way looked good at the time; in fact, it looked like the only way. But it upset your stomach and could break your knuckles. It produced blind spots that could mess you up and cause pain, not to mention losing your ass. The easy way required thinking, and remaining cool. Not standing-around cool, but authentic genuine cool. Cool when you wanted to smash something or break down a door. No, hold it right there. Think on how to do it the easy way. Then turn the knob gently and the door opens.

Or, his manifesto for everything, in the words of Ryan:

“A friend of mine has a sign on the wall at his office, it says No More Bullshit. And that’s the way I feel, or want to get back to feeling again. I know I can be myself. I don’t have to play a role, put up a front, pretend to be something I’m not. I even listen to what people say now. I can argue without getting mad. If the other person gets mad, that’s his problem. I don’t feel the need to convince everybody I’m right. Somebody said here tonight, ‘I like myself, and it’s good to be able to say that.’”

This was a great one. But when are they not?