Tue 10 Oct 2017
DONALD E. WESTLAKE – Why Me. John Dortmunder #5. Viking, hardcover, 1983. Tor, paperback, April 1985. Film: Epic, 1990, as Why Me? (with Christopher Lambert as “Gus Cardinale”).
Professional burglar John Dortmunder’s life has never been easy — in fact, most of the people who know hm well think of him as a jinx — and it gets even worse in this book, in which he accidentally heists the Byzantine Fire, only the wold’s most valuable ruby.
On his neck immediately are the police, the FBI, the entire underworld (tired of being endlessly hassled by the police and the FBI) and skads of very religious assassination fanatics, in what becomes a major international affair. When he’s on his game, as he is here, Westlake can exhibit a sour, sarcastic view of the world with the best of them, and the book is simply hilarious all the way through.
October 10th, 2017 at 9:09 pm
I never laugh as hard as when Dortmunder’s luck has gone sour again.
October 10th, 2017 at 11:02 pm
I’m going to have to read this one again. It’s been far too long.
I’d also like to see the movie. Lots of good comments on IMDb, but so far, I’ve only come up with a VHS tape on Amazon.
October 11th, 2017 at 6:28 am
Last month the local mystery readers club discussed Westlake’s final Dortmunder, GET REAL, a send up of realty shows on TV. A number of people admitted they laughed out loud while reading it. Have you posted a list of the Dortmunder books?
October 11th, 2017 at 6:47 am
No list until now, but here’s Wikipedia to my rescue:
Appearances
Novels
The Hot Rock. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970.
Bank Shot. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972.
Jimmy the Kid. New York: M. Evans, 1974.
Nobody’s Perfect. New York: M. Evans, 1977.
Why Me? New York : Viking, 1983. ISBN 0-670-76569-4.
Good Behavior. New York: Mysterious Press, 1985. ISBN 0-892-96240-2.
Drowned Hopes. New York: Mysterious Press, 1990. ISBN 0-892-96178-3.
Don’t Ask. New York: Mysterious Press, 1993. ISBN 0-892-96469-3.
What’s the Worst That Could Happen? New York: Mysterious Press, 1996. ISBN 0-892-96586-X.
Bad News. New York: Mysterious Press, 2001. ISBN 0-892-96717-X.
The Road to Ruin. New York: Mysterious Press, 2004. ISBN 0-892-96801-X.
Watch Your Back! New York: Mysterious Press, 2005. ISBN 0-892-96802-8.
What’s So Funny? New York: Warner Books, 2007. ISBN 0-446-58240-9.
Get Real. New York: Grand Central Pub., 2009. ISBN 9780446178600.
Shorter Works
Thieves’ Dozen (2004), a collection of ten Dortmunder short stories and one related story.
“Walking Around Money” (2005), a novella in the anthology Transgressions, edited by Ed McBain.
Films
The Hot Rock (1972) stars Robert Redford as Dortmunder.
Bank Shot (1974) stars George C. Scott as Dortmunder, who was renamed “Walter Upjohn Ballentine” for the film.
Come ti rapisco il pupo (1976), based on Jimmy the Kid, stars Teo Teocoli as the Dortmunder character, renamed “Elia”.
Jimmy the Kid (1982) stars Gary Coleman as Jimmy, and Paul Le Mat as Dortmunder.
Why Me? (1990) stars Christopher Lambert as Dortmunder, renamed “Gus Cardinale”.
Jimmy the Kid (1999) is a German film that stars Herbert Knaup as Dortmunder.
What’s the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) stars Martin Lawrence as Dortmunder, renamed “Kevin Caffery”. The film also stars Danny DeVito.
October 11th, 2017 at 8:01 am
Haven’t read Westlake in donkey’s years. Gotta get back that way…..
October 11th, 2017 at 11:19 am
Humor doesn’t always work (in books or movies) depending on the mood one is in, but Westlake always seems to make me laugh out loud. Just the master at the comic crime novel.
October 11th, 2017 at 3:21 pm
I have always felt Dortmunder was his best work (even better than Parker). I also found it better than any of his screenplays and TV series. Having read WHY ME? and seen the movie I continue to prefer his novels.
October 12th, 2017 at 7:48 am
I always thought his non-series DANCING AZTECS was the quintessential New York book…and often very funny