Sat 20 Jun 2009
Reviewed by Marvin Lachman: ROSS MACDONALD – The Zebra-Striped Hearse.
Posted by Steve under Covers , Reviews[8] Comments
ROSS MACDONALD – The Zebra-Striped Hearse. A. A. Knopf, hardcover, 1962. Bantam F2715, paperback reprint; 1st printing, January 1964. Reprinted many times in both hardcover and soft, including those seen below.
If you somehow missed Ross Macdonald’s The Zebra-Striped Hearse in its hardcover edition or in one of the previous twelve (!) Bantam printings, you get another chance, for that publisher has reprinted it again, after a four-year hiatus.
Because this is one of the best in an outstanding series of private-eye novels, it is a book you shouldn’t miss. You’ll find many elements taken from the author’s own life and placed into the investigation of his detective, Lew Archer, including the runaway father, the canyon forest fire, and California’s unique culture, accurately presented in a book that ranges the state from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
We see the compassion for which Archer is justifiably known, but there is also ample evidence of his intelligence as his creator has him quote Dante in a conversation so well written that it fits in seamlessly.
Covers:
Shown above is the cover of the 12th printing that Marv was referring to. Others covers that have graced this book are shown below, but to my mind, none of them surpasses the Knopf hardcover First Edition:
Here’s the hardcover UK first edition, from Collins Crime Club, 1963:
And I believe this to be the first UK paperback edition, published by Fontana in 1965:
To finish up this short display, a paperback edition from France, Éditions J’ai Lu #1662, 1984.
[UPDATE] 06-22-09. Submitted by Juri Nummelin, a hardcover edition published in Finland:
See the comments for a link to a short write-up about Juri about Macdonald, including this book.
June 21st, 2009 at 5:44 am
Great book from Macdonald’s best period. Ron Goulart wrote a great parody of it for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine that some Macdonald fans still haven’t forgiven him for entirely. An early appearance of some of the ecological themes that would appear more prominently in later books.
June 21st, 2009 at 8:06 am
A great novel that I first read in the 1960’s and recently reread for the 3rd or 4th time.
A few months ago I started rereading the Lew Archer series thinking that after a few novels I would run out of steam and switch to Raymond Chandler, etc. I ended up rereading all 18 of the novels and enjoying them immensely. I consider Ross Macdonald to be one of the very best mystery writers.
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
It’s a great book. One of the very best.
Here’s the Finnish cover – which in my mind outpasses all the others:
http://pulpetti.blogspot.com/2006/08/books-of-my-life.html
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Thanks for the link Juri. You were 13 when you discovered Ross Macdonald; I was about 10 years older at 23 when I discovered him. A blurb comparing him to Raymond Chandler caught my eye, though I would have to say that Chandler and Ross Macdonald have different styles. Recently on the website RARA-AVIS there has been some negative comments about blurbs but here is an example where it led me to a great writer.
Yes, even one sentence blurbs can be of value…
June 23rd, 2009 at 2:49 am
Steve, the Finnish cover was actually a hardback, not a paperback, and the artist is one of the most revered book illustrators in Finland (Matti Louhi). He’s also done Tolkien covers and lots of erotica.
June 23rd, 2009 at 2:51 am
Could’ve mentioned also that the book’s title was changed into something different. The Finnish title means literally “Harriet is a big girl”.
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 am
Juri
It’s an eye-appealing cover all right.
My error on calling it a paperback, though. Hardcovers in the US aren’t often as pop art stylish as this. In any case, I’ve made the correction, post haste.
I meant to ask you about the title, but you beat me to it. Thanks!
— Steve
May 8th, 2015 at 11:40 pm
In studying the Lew Archer novels of Ross Macdonald I’ve tried to identify certain characteristics, themes, motifs, images – call them what you like – that crop up frequently throughout the various books. I don’t claim that the following are particularly important or have any special significance or meaning; nor do I say this is a comprehensive list.
http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2014/12/ross-macdonald-characteristics-of.html#.VU14pNKUcwB