I'm calling it now.Today I received an advance copy of Stark House Press's latest Harry Whittington collection, which includes three insanely rare short novels: To Find Cora, Like Mink Like Murder and Body and Passion. Whittington, of course, was the King of the Paperback during the 1950s and the author of the paperback suspense classics Web of Murder, The Devil Wears Wings and A Moment to Prey. All three were reprinted by Black Lizard in the late 1980s; all three are definitely worth hunting down and savoring. (This Harry Whittington, it's worth noting, was not the dude Dick Cheney shot in the face.)
Now I haven't read a single word of these short novels—I only received this ARC today—but the introduction alone is worth the price of the book. In it, mystery expert David Laurence Wilson talks about how he tracked down these rare finds, and it's like a pulp-nerd detective story. Sam Spade had his Maltese Falcon; Wilson has his "39 Unknowns"—namely, the 39 novels Whittington wrote under house names starting in 1960. Each were required to be 60,000 words long, and Whittington later wrote that he cranked out 39 of these suckers, month after month. Yet, he never revealed their titles. Wilson writes that it was "the beginning of a literary legend."
I won't ruin the surprise for you, but you'll be amazed how many of these Wilson pins down. Wilson's my new hero. And the three short Whittington novels, one of which has never been available in English? I consider them a bonus.
The new collection will be available this coming July. I'd pre-order this one from Stark House directly, or through your favorite indie mystery shop.
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11 comments:
I've been looking forward to this one for a long time. I already have the novels, but I'm really looking forward to "the unknowns."
Actually, I have one of those books in its French edition. It's never been available in English. Just another reason to order.
I talked to Harry three or four times in the last year of his life. He was a gracious Southern gentleman who was pleased that the Black Lizard novels had brought him so many new fans. Barry Gifford and I planned a massive western anthology like the two Black Lizard anthologies. Harry said that he had a long novelette from the old Mammoth Western that he'd like to see in print again. Then he told me about a short western he also liked. I said we'll publish the novelette under your name and use a pen-name on the short story. Harry died and Black Lizard was sold. But I sure wanted to do that western anthology. I'd planned to make it essentially a noir western book. I think it would've been a good one.
David Laurence Wilson is a hero.
And, Ed, damn that western anthology never saw print.
I can't wait for this book. Harry Whittington doesn't get nearly the acclaim he deserves. Not only are his books wildly entertaining and tightly plotted, but inspiring as well. I learned something new about the craft of writing every time I read one of his novels. I will forever be indebted to Bill Crider for introducing me to Whittington's work.
Bill: I knew you'd be all over this. And I knew you'd own at least one of these.
Ed: Oh, to read that novelette. Thanks for sharing.
Lee: I have to agree. Web of Murder blew me away about 10 years ago, and like you, I have that Crider guy to thank. (I first read about Whittington in an essay in THE BIG BOOK OF NOIR.)
Whittington blew me away when I read those Black Lizard reprints years ago....I've tracked down a bunch of pbos but have always been intrigued by his claim to all those pseudonyms.
Ed, an anthology of Western noir would make my year.
Scott Phillips
Hello Duane,
I've been reading your blog for the last few posts and thought I'd say hello. I must say I'm fond of the cover of your book, it has a nice edge to it.
Hey, Emerson--welcome. That cover is the genius of Tomm Coker, one of my favorite illustrators. He knocked it out of the park, in my opinion.
Yeah I was thrilled when I got my copy then to turn it over and see that I was blurbed was just a huge suprise.
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