Ronald Rabbit Is a Dirty Old Man - Lawrence Block [54]
Rumors of lucrative reprint deals came and went, too, and finally my agent called to tell me that Manor Books wanted to do the book in paperback. They would pay a hot fifteen hundred dollars, all of which would go to Geis to offset some of the unearned balance of the five thousand dollar advance he’d given me.
Some oyster.
There was a catch, though. Manor wanted to change the title. I told them no.
Geis called my agent. “Talk some sense into Larry,” he said. “If he won’t let them change the title, it might queer the deal.”
“God,” I said, “I hope so.” But it didn’t. Manor published the book in paperback, with the original title, and their edition is probably harder to find than Geis’s hardcover edition. The only other edition the book has ever had is a Japanese one, and that may be the hardest of all to find, because how would I even know if I found it?
So there you have it, Jim. That’s how the book came about. And you know what else it is? It’s the intro. Just copy this letter directly as the introduction to your sumptuous edition. What better intro to a book of letters than another letter? In fact you might want to photograph this letter rather than bother setting type. Don’t worry about the letterhead. I’ve already changed the phone number to one of those generic 555 nonexistent numbers, and I don’t care if the rest is public information. If people want to write me letters or send me faxes, I say God bless ’em.
Hang in there, Jim. And be nice, or I’ll get Laurence Clarke after you.
And let me add, Dear E-Reader, how pleased I am to have Ronald Rabbit available as an ebook. I can only hope you had a fraction of the fun reading it that I had writing it.
—Lawrence (with a W) Block (with a K)
Greenwich Village
Lawrence Block (lawbloc@gmail.com) welcomes your email responses; he reads them all, and replies when he can.
A Biography of Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block (b. 1938) is the recipient of a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and an internationally renowned bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series as well as dozens of short stories, articles, and books on writing. He has won four Edgar and Shamus Awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of the United Kingdom. In France, he has been awarded the title Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice received the Societe 813 trophy.
Born in Buffalo, New York, Block attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Leaving school before graduation, he moved to New York City, a locale that features prominently in most of his works. His earliest published writing appeared in the 1950s, frequently under pseudonyms, and many of these novels are now considered classics of the pulp fiction genre. During his early writing years, Block also worked in the mailroom of a publishing house and reviewed the submission slush pile for a literary agency. He has cited the latter experience as a valuable lesson for a beginning writer.
Block’s first short story, “You Can’t Lose,” was published in 1957 in Manhunt, the first of dozens of short stories and articles that he would publish over the years in publications including American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and the New York Times. His short fiction has been featured and reprinted in over eleven collections including Enough Rope (2002), which is comprised of eighty-four of his short stories.
In 1966, Block introduced the insomniac protagonist Evan Tanner in the novel The Thief Who Couldn’t Sleep. Block’s diverse heroes also include the urbane and witty bookseller—and thief-on-the-side—Bernie Rhodenbarr; the gritty recovering alcoholic and private investigator Matthew Scudder; and Chip Harrison, the comical assistant to a private investigator with a Nero Wolfe