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Donald E. Westlake

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Born: July 11 1933

Died: 3030 12 20082008

Website: Go to Website

Donald E. Westlake was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950's, churning out novels for pulp houses—often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms such as Richard Stark—but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and Parker, a ruthless criminal. His writing earned him three Edgar Awards: the 1968 Best Novel award for God Save the Mark; the 1990 Best Short Story award for "Too Many Crooks"; and the 1991 Best Motion Picture Screenplay award for The Grifters. In addition, Westlake also earned a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.

Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.

Some of the pseudonyms he used include
•   Richard Stark
•   Timothy J. Culver
•   Tucker Coe
•   Curt Clark
•   J. Morgan Cunningham
•   Judson Jack Carmichael
•   D.E. Westlake
•   Donald I. Vestlejk
•   Don Westlake

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Donald E. Westlake

Donald E. Westlake

Books from Donald E. Westlake

The Hot Rock

Bank Shot

The Ax

Somebody Owes Me Money

The Sour Lemon Score

361

What's So Funny?

What's The Worst That Could Happen?

Drowned Hopes

Jimmy The Kid

The Cutie

Why Me?

The Way We Die Now

Thieves' Dozen

Smoke

Out on the Rim

Baby, Would I Lie?

Good Behavior

The Fugitive Pigeon

Two Much