Product Description
127 pp. ... Read more

Product Description
Tired of reading good books? Check out this ridiculous, politically incorrect, and remarkably pointless novel. It's a general cultural satire, in the guise of a "hard-boiled detective" mystery spoof.

The mystery has to do with the "Secrets of the Elder Gods": fans of the Lovecraftian "cosmic horror" corpus (which does lie in very ripe ground, after all), and everybody who enjoys irreverent humor, ought to read this one.

Take off your fedora, pour yourself a glass of rye, light up a smoke, and laugh along with Rastus Reilly as you develop esophagal lesions. You only live once, kid! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Must Read For Laughs
I've just read this book a second time and am making a point of recommending it to my friends and to everybody reading here. This is a very crazy novel. In fact it's not so much a novel as a satire of novels. The author gets you interested in the story but there's some kind of gag on every page, so Kelly's book manages to mock every novel-writing convention, in the process of mocking itself. "The Maltese Falcon" is lampooned, as are H.P. Lovecraft's, and to a lesser extent Dickens's work specifically, but the humor ranges widely beyond just these targets. It's sharp but underlyingly good-natured humor. I'll never forget these patently ripe characters: a Sam Spade type, Jake Stalker, who seems to be coming out of the closet, Lucretia Faversham, elderly dowager, in search of rejuvenation while revelling in all the common vices, Veronica Volupturini, globe-trotting golddigger, Haggie the gin-swilling receptionist, Rastus Reilly himself, whose mere description is hilariously unforgettable, and a larger congregation of strangely loveable misfits Kelly describes bluntly as "lowlife swine." They're rather sweet swine, though, and that's part of what makes them funny. One character's impossibly long surname evokes conversational byplay that puts Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" to shame: this alone would make the book worth its price, but the laughs keep coming, from every direction. Bizarre characterization is certainly a strong point. The setting is Boston, Massachusetts, and a treasure-hunting cruise from there to the Caribbean, in the 1930s. Pacing is leisurely at first but the story builds to an adventurous conclusion. The tone can best be described as ridiculous. The writing style parodies numerous styles, as suggested by the subtitle, and manages to do this not just effectively, but fluidly as well: Kelly is a genuinely talented writer. The plot is simply a framework for laughter. The good guys, led by old lady Faversham and her hired gun Jake Stalker, have found out there is an ancient Secret of Eternal Youth, and they're chasing after it, hotly pursued by a fat and skinny pair of archly evil bad guys. I said this was a very crazy book. So if you like Crazy you'll love it. I did, enough to read it all over again, six months after my first reading, and I picked up on jokes I'd missed the first time. A+ for humor.

I think Douglas Adams has come back to life!
I was *beyond* pleasantly surprised by Rastus Reilly.Steve takes no prisoners when he parodies Laural and Hardy, Mark Twain, Stephen King, HP Lovecraft, and countless others.This book is funny from page one through the end, and I found myself wishing for more once it was finished!Of course, I drink a lot of beer, so what do I know?

I'll be watching for future releases from Steve Kelly, hope he lives for awhile and doesn't die of liver disorder.

I Hope You're Nuts
I'm a fan of Stephen King and I had just started reading H.P. Lovecraft's classic horror stories when I came across this unusual novel and decided to give it a try. First I'm going to warn readers who don't like completely crazy humor that they will not like Kelly's book. I do like crazy nut humor so I loved "Rastus Reilly." It's well written it's insane and it's a hoot. Knowing a little Lovecraft will help you enjoy this horror and mystery satire. In some parts of the book Kelly satires the Lovecraft writing style very well and obviously with affection. But you don't really have to know Lovecraft. You do have to be a little crazy like me to enjoy a novel as plain silly as this one. I liked it enough to write my first Amazon review and give this book the top rating but only for nutty humor fans.

Lovers of Funny Things Must Read This Book
I have to say this book is one of the funniest things I have ever read. It's very naughty but in a nice way. It is also the most utterly absurd thing I have ever read. I think everybody who loves funny things has to read Rastus Reilly. I give this book five stars. ... Read more

Product Description
Now in Paper! Aimed at both the new student and the seasoned scholar, The Hard-Boiled Explicator offers brief essays on Hammett, Chandler, and Macdonald that highlight their major characteristics, relate them to each other, and show their impact on their public. Cloth edition published in 1985. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A foundational resource for serious research about Dashiell Hammett
This bibliography provides a foundation for any serious research into the writings and life of Dashiell Hammett, and for any serious collector of Hammett's works. This is the only detailed bibliography of Hammett's writings: books, magazine appearances, movies, radio, etc. New findings in the 30 years since the book was published make it incomplete, but it is still extremely useful.

If you don't need this amount of detail, note that a condensed checklist version is included as an appendix in Shadow Man, Richard Layman's biography of Hammett. ... Read more

Product Description
Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Erle Stanley Gardner, amateur detectives known collectively as the Black Mask boys, join forces once again in a mystery, set among the rich and famous of 1930s California, that moves from Hearst Castle to Venice-by-the-Sea canals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Search for the Little Sister
This historical novel is set in Southern California of the 1930s and uses real and fictional characters for its murder mystery. Raymond Chandler is the narrator. The `Afterword' explains the rationale of the book, inspired by real-life agency reports. [Did he read any?]

Chapter 1 reviews the mysterious death of Thelma Todd, who may have said "no" after too many "yeses". Chandler wrote stories about crime and detection, not a "socially significant" novel. The story begins with the death of Julian Pascal, Chandler's wife's ex-husband. An apparent suicide in a cemetery. [There is a short and incomplete summary of Chandler's life.] Chandler identified Pascal's body, and explained why he doubted a suicide (Chapter 2). So Chandler starts an investigation into Pascal's death, like a classic pulp fiction story that proves the police theory was wrong. Erle Stanley Gardner, the practical realist, wonders about the miles per gallon for Chandler's Duesenberg "one of the finest automobiles in the world" (p.21).

Events occur as the story moves on. A woman in a white limousine is seen at Pascal's burial. We meet real and fictional people in this novel. A woman hires Chandler to find her little sister. Chandler gets Hammett for this search. A "ghost" tells Chandler it was murder! They visit various places on their quest for the facts. These are described quickly. Some secrets are uncovered by the investigation. Chandler finds the missing little sister. Trouble follows this business.

In Chapter 17 we get the facts behind the mystery. The little sister meets Chandler and tells her story. There is a secretive night visit where they find another body, and the little sister (Chapter 20). When they find a second body Chandler solves the murders in a surprise ending. The last chapter ends the story. [We learn why it is good business to get your money up front.]

I don't know what purpose Nolan had in this portrayal of Chandler. Chandler had served in the front-line trenches of the Great War, unlike Hammett or Gardner. That was about twenty years earlier than this story.

I am glad I did not give up on this interesting novel.
3-and-a-half stars. There is a Chinese curse that states "May you live in interesting times." So to say The Marble Orchard is an interesting book may be interpreted as a good or a bad thing. And there are good and bad elements to Mr. Nolan's work.
The plot involves Raymond Chandler seeking down the killer of his wife Cissy's first husband, even though all the evidence points to suicide. Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner, three thugs and an actress specializing in vampiric roles all play parts in the not-bad mystery.
One of the interesting (and unsuccessful) things about TMO is that it is decidedly not hard-boiled. Which may be a valid take on the premise. After all, the authors who wrote the stories were very different from their creations- educated, generally refined men. But this is a fanciful take on the era anyway, so why not go the extra step, I thought? Most of the people were very polite in this novel; its early sections read like one of the English school of mysteries that Chandler disliked and so vigorously deconstructed in The Simple Art of Murder.
But I read on, and at some point, things subtly shifted for the darker and better, and made me realize that the story structure was skillfully similar, even if the trappings were more urbane: the joes and janes peopling the book got nastier, Chandler got sapped and awakened doped (in a scene very like Farewell, My Lovely); Hammett pulled a gun on some thugs; a blackmail plot surfaced; and duplicitous motives appeared out of what had been to that point a disappointingly linear plot. The resolution was as contrived as any good Black Mask novel should be. Not all that plausible, but possible, and entertaining.
Another great thing is how Nolan plays with the way that Chandler and Philip Marlowe *were* alike: a romantic core which appears late in the novel beneath their crust of cynicism. Also, the camaraderie portrayed between Hammett, Chandler and Gardner is a big plus, even if it was entirely manufactured.
The bad things about the novel end up being very few, but they are harmful. Like many modern writers, Nolan seems embarrassed at the lack of political correctness in the original Black Mask stories he seeks to bring to mind. So he creates characters and subplots which advance the story not a whit and seem to exist only to administer some ethereal type of social justice. This treacle was applied, I am sure, with the best of intentions, but garnered the worst of results, coming off as phony, preachy and altogether out-of-place.
Also, the non-stop factoids are interesting for history and trivia buffs to a point, but Nolan goes too far- a litany of what Hammett read as he began his writing career is unnecessary, dull and obvious. The history of cities is again mildly interesting but superfluous; Chandler painted a better picture of SoCal towns with two snotty comments than do the encyclopedic entries of this novel. And, surprisingly, the Chaplin, Welles, Hearst and Temple cameos actually distract from the atmosphere, as they have no relevancy to the plot whatsoever and instead remind us that what we are reading is not historical at all.
Still, Mr. Nolan has succeeded in writing a very well-crafted novel that held my interest despite being nothing like what I expected- not easy to do. And this Black Mask fan thanks him sincerely for keeping an era and a genre, if not exactly a style, alive and kicking. ... Read more

Product Description
America's premier mystery writers--Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Erle Stanley Gardner--make a comeback in this latest suspense novel from William F. Nolan.In a vivid re-creation of Hollywood's Golden Age, Erle Stanley Gardner is accused of murder and becomes a fugitive in a desperate attempt to find the real killer.

As the action sweeps from an MGM movie set to an obscure fishing village on the Gulf of California, listeners are treated to a drunken John Barrymore emoting Shakespeare, a bawdy encounter with Mae West in a steam bath, a full-throttle car chase with racing legend Barney Oldfield, and a shocking phone call from America's foremost gossipmonger, Walter Winchell. The climax is a murder trial in which Gardner, in true Perry Mason style, chooses to defend himself against the threatened death sentence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Case of the Singing Actor
This historical novel is set in Southern California of the 1930s and uses famous dead authors as its characters. The `Afterword' explains this story, set in a time most now living never knew. Nolan studied Erle Stanley Gardner's life to write Chapter 2. Gardner used his legal knowledge to write "Perry Mason", just as Dashiell Hammett used his private detective experiences for the "Continental Op" stories. The style of this story does not seem to match Gardner's novels. The title sounds like one of the novels of "A. A. Fair".

Amy had a Hollywood marriage: the image didn't match the reality (p.17). Could a harsh childhood create cruelty (p.18). Is the wife's story one-sided (p.19)? ["Perry Mason" knew better than to totally believe his clients.] Chapter 3 provides amusing scenes of a Hollywood back lot. Some chapters reminded me of "The Thin Man". Suddenly Amy dies (Chapter 6). She was poisoned (Chapter 7). But Amy's will named a new beneficiary, one who profits from her death - Erle Stanley Gardner (Chapter 8). [Nolan's assessment of Custer is ignorant and biased (Chapter 9).] Lawyer Gardner knew the condition of bail and the implication of flight (Chapter 10). They drove to San Felipe to meet Maria Sanchez, Thompson's first wife. Is there a scandal here (Chapter 12)? But Thompson is no longer a suspect in Amy's death (Chapter 13). There is a new suspect when a bloody knife is found in an unlocked truck (Chapter 15). This planted evidence makes Gardner a notorious criminal in the press (Chapter 16)!

Chapter 17 explains arranged marriages for the aristocracy: it keeps their landed wealth united. The marriages are often unhappy. Hollywood also has marriages whose aim is to preserve wealth and "star quality". Gardner and his friends decide to return to San Felipe to learn more (Chapter 18). Their search leads to a dead end (Chapter 19). Gardner finds a clue in Thompson's house (Chapter 20). Gardner will represent himself at his murder trial (Chapter 21). Dashiell Hammett brings the secret evidence into court, and this reveals the truth about the murders in a "Perry Mason" conclusion (Chapter 22)! But the ending seems a little too cute and contrived (Chapter 23).

This story about the 1930s does not seem to match the style of Gardner's writings. Gardner never used the word "prostitute" but a euphemism. Gardner then wrote about a "machine" not a brand name. Women then wore light wool or silk stockings. A dictaphone would be a new technology (but wax cylinders were invented by Edison in the 1880s). Gardner often used misidentification in his novels. Unmasking an imposter is always a dramatic event. The story of an unacknowledged son committing murders to gain an inheritance seems like a new twist for 1930s novels.

Flatfooted.
The gimmick (Gardner, Dashiell Hammett, and Raymond Chandler solving a real mystery together) is entertaining enough, and Nolan eventually builds a enough of a plot to keep most readers going, but I must say I found the book a big disappointment.Despite the little lectures on California missions, the changing editorship of Black Mask magazine, and so forth -- and the pointless cameo appearance of cardboard cutouts labeled Mae West, John Barrymore, etc -- there is no sense at all of life in the '30s.At first I thought the flatfooted style was meant to be a comment on narrator Erle Stanley Gardner's writing, but at his worst Gardner wasn't this banal, cliche-ridden and tautological (again and again, a character's speech will be tagged with a clause summarizing its contents or explaining its already-obvious intention.) But okay, we don't always look for any kind of style in a certain kind of whodunit, and Nolan does deliver a decent mystery.What I couldn't stand -- I wouldn't even have finished the book if I hadn't been stuck in a hotel room with nothing else -- was the constant stream of anachronistic language.The whole point of this entertainment is that it takes place in the '30s, but again and again, the stock phraseology comes from the '70s or later.The Bing Crosbyesque character is "laid-back", someone keeps a "low profile", a celebrity funeral is a "media event" attended by "death freaks."Once would be an irritating but forgiveable slip-up, but when it keeps happening page after page, the carelessness of it becomes downright insulting.

Another Delightful Opus
In the series' third outing Nolan once again hits one out of the park, successfully evoking the spirit of bygone Hollywood glamor. Once again we have the Black Mask boys chewing up the scenery amid spectacular moviesets, Spanish-era estates and a heavy who will strongly remind them of BingCrosby. But hidden amongst all this is a surprise: the story of anauthentic California life. Erle Gardner of Perry Mason fame was born inOroville, spent a year at Palo Alto High (Paly), defended the rights ofChinese in Oxnard and later moved to Ventura and then Hollywood. As awesterner at that time, Gardner was a bit less sophisticated than hiscounterparts Hammett and Chandler who hailed from the east coast andEngland respectively. At a 1997 mystery seminar I heard author Nolanwondering aloud just how to write a novel in the Gardner style, which inmany ways is an absence of style really. Nolan needn't have worried. Hepulls off this story about the return of a lost love just fine and, anyway,apart from the occasional special effect, his style matches that of onlyone writer anyway:Nolan. As it should be. It's true that the old saw"show me instead of telling me" can sometimes be applied, butNolan has a lot of ground to cover and overall does so quite well. ... Read more