Tue 7 Feb 2012
W. R. BURNETT – Underdog. Knopf, hardcover, 1957. Bantam A1819, paperback, 1958.
Underdog finds W.R. Burnett at the top of his form, which is about the best there is. Clinch, the aptly-named, emotionally-constipated anti-hero of the piece, is an ex-con working as a chauffeur to a powerful political boss who befriended him in prison.
He isn’t long on the job, though, when he discovers (a) that his boss has a lovely and restless wife, and (b) the up-and-coming powers-that-will-be want to put said boss out to pasture — and whether he’s eased out or carried out depends on how much trouble he gives them.
Naturally, for this sort of thing, the Boss makes trouble for the new guys, and Clinch finds himself framed for murder, whereupon Burnett puts his own special slant on the old same song: Clinch doesn’t try to clear himself or catch the real killers; he just goes out to get back at the mugs what done him dirty. And what he does and how he does it makes for some of the most taut and violent reading to come my way lately.
Burnett was one of the few writers who could carry off this sort of thing perfectly. He evokes Clinch as a memorably ordinary guy, out for himself but loyal to his friends and nagged by his relationship with an underage hooker who wants to be a wife to him.
Additionally, the Boss, his wife and their “associates” come off the page in neat cameos that linger in the mind. As for the action scenes, well they’re the kind of writing that put hard-boiled literature on the map, and I can recommend this highly to lovers of the stuff.
February 7th, 2012 at 5:56 pm
As familiar as the cover of that Bantam paperback is, and as many times as I’ve seen it in used bookstores — although not recently, I have to admit — according to my records, I don’t have a copy of it.
I don’t know why. It certainly sounds like my kind of book.
February 7th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Why doesn’t any publisher re-publish Burnett ?
Little Caesar is certainly not ‘nobody’, Scarface, I can’t imagine that his books, with the least bit of promo (like a short notice on THIS blog) , wouldn’t bring in a nice bundle.
The Doc
February 7th, 2012 at 6:21 pm
“Why doesn’t any publisher re-publish Burnett ?”
Now that’s a good question. I wish I had an answer. Stark House has a couple in print, a two-in-one volume “It’s Always Four O’Clock / Iron Man” but that seems to be it.
Scarface, by the way, Burnett didn’t write, not the novel. Burnett was only involved with the screenplay, if I remember correctly. Which makes me wonder why they never made a movie based on UNDERDOG. From Dan’s review, it seems a natural, and they did make movies from a lot of the rest of his work.
February 10th, 2012 at 10:45 am
I agree with the Doc. High Sierra, Iron Man, Dark Hazard, There’s Always Tomorrow, et al. They’re all worth reprinting. It’s upsetting to me what publishers will reprint year after year (Do we really need a new edition of And Then There Were None? Again?) and still overlook quality writers who have been neglected for decades.
February 10th, 2012 at 12:34 pm
Rosetta Books (rosettabooks.com) has released HIGH SIERRA, LITTLE CAESAR and ASPHALT JUNGLE on e-book format. You can ask them about UNDERDOG and the rest.
As for print. It appears Burnett’s heirs own the rights. That means some small publishing house would need to seek them out and meet their price.
And what current small publishing house specializing in 50s crime fiction besides Hard Case still does print format?
February 10th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
This is still another Burnett I haven’t read. God knows how many there are, I thought I’d read several but they keep turning up. Not in used books stores for a buck, though. Darn.
February 10th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
Michael
Sometimes heirs are really strange about this. They hold out for more money than a small publisher can pay, hoping for a big payoff down the road somewhere else, and end up getting nothing for their pains.
February 10th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Richard
I’m going to have to start reading more of his books myself. I don’t have this one, but what I don’t understand is why I can’t remember reading any of the ones I do have, which is quite a few.
I watch the movies and ignore the books. It doesn’t make any sense to me, either.
February 10th, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Stark House seems to be open to reprinting these great books from the 50s and 60s. I’m sure if enough of us send them an email, we might see UNDERDOG reprinted. Of course, there’s always the ebook.
February 10th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Good idea, George. I’ve just emailed Greg Shepard to do just that. Here’s the Stark House page for Burnett:
http://www.starkhousepress.com/burnett.html
February 10th, 2012 at 9:44 pm
Thanks, Steve, for the link, I just sent them a short email, and thank you, George, for the suggestion.
Let’s wait and , possibly, see.
The Doc
February 13th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Would love to reprint more Burnetts. The rights issue is a bit tricky at the moment, but would love to see Vanity Row and Little Man Big World back in print. And, of course, Underdog. So many great Burnett books. Thanks for the support and suggestions.
February 13th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Best of luck with getting Burnett back in print, Greg, and with all of your reprinting projects. They’re all welcome in this house!
February 13th, 2012 at 5:44 pm
Well, so we know, by Greg’s lightning fast response ,that there is hope, but at the moment simply a money issue with the heirs as an obstacle.
We’ll wait and see.
The Doc