{"product_id":"elmore-leonard-four-novels-of-the-1970s-loa-255-fifty-two-pickup-swag-unknown-man-no-89-the-switch-9781598533057","title":"Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1970s (Loa #255): Fifty-Two Pickup \/ Swag \/ Unknown Man No. 89 \/ The Switch","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe Library of America inaugurates its Elmore Leonard edition with four funny, street-smart early masterpieces, gathered in one volume for the first time: \u003c\/b\u003eBlending gritty toughness and unpredictable violence with wild humor and an uncanny ear for the rhythms of ordinary speech, Elmore Leonard (1925-2013) was the most widely and enthusiastically admired crime novelist of his time. His genius for scene and dialogue led \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e magazine to describe him as \"a Dickens of Detroit,\" and \u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e called him \"the best American writer of crime alive, possibly the best we've ever had.\" Now The Library of America inaugurates a three-volume edition of Leonard's greatest work, prepared in consultation with the author shortly before his death and edited by his long-time researcher Gregg Sutter. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The four novels collected in this first volume re-invented the American crime novel and cemented Leonard's reputation. All are set in his hometown Detroit, a hard-working \"shot and a beer\" kind of place whose lawless underside becomes a stage for an unforgettable cast of rogues, con artists, and psychopaths. \u003ci\u003eFifty-Two Pickup\u003c\/i\u003e (1974), fast and sharply written, is an insidiously brutal book about an adulterous businessman who runs afoul of a crew of murderous blackmailers. \u003ci\u003eSwag \u003c\/i\u003e(1976) finds Leonard moving for the first time into the more comic mode that would become his signature, as he charts the small-time criminal careers of an amiable ex-con and an ambitious car salesman who share a bachelor pad and pursue their hedonistic dream of the good life through a string of armed robberies. \u003ci\u003eUnknown Man No. 23 \u003c\/i\u003e(1977) spins a complex web of crisscrossing rip-offs and con games, with process server Jack Ryan, a typically laid-back Leonard protagonist, caught in the middle. In \u003ci\u003eThe Switch\u003c\/i\u003e (1978), one of Leonard's funniest books, Mickey Dawson, a discontented housewife held for ransom, manages to turn the tables on her kidnappers while exacting overdue revenge on her scheming husband. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This volume also contains a newly researched chronology of Elmore Leonard's life, drawing on materials in his personal archive, and detailed annotations, which include as a special bonus a scene from the typescript for Swag that did not appear in the published book. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLIBRARY OF AMERICA\u003c\/b\u003e is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Library of America\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/28\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781598533057\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 816\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.10h x 5.20w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/11\/2015 pg. 26\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/24\/2015 pg. 50\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Elmore Leonard","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42925093748917,"sku":"9781598533057","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_8843cee3-6b89-456f-a8ca-9b9cce701fdd.jpg?v=1687845380","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/elmore-leonard-four-novels-of-the-1970s-loa-255-fifty-two-pickup-swag-unknown-man-no-89-the-switch-9781598533057","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}