Authors and Creators
Lawrence Block
(pseuds: William Ard, Jill Emerson, Chip Harrison, Paul Kavanagh, Sheldon Lord, Andrew Shaw)
(1938--)

Lawrence Block is a one of the most successful crime writers around, both critically and commercially. He's created several very different series characters: sex-crazy teenager Chip Harrison; sleepless, reluctant spy Evan Tanner; easy-going, good-natured burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, quirky, conflicted assassin Keller; plucky little criminal lawyer Martin Ehrengraf who has never lost a case, ever; and his prize creation, tormented alcoholic (and then recovering alcoholic) private eye Matt Scudder. He has published articles and short fiction in American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, GQ, EQMM, and The New York Times, and has published several collections of short fiction in book form.

He's a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe award. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals around the world, and has been presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. He is a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America.

Not bad for a guy who, early in his career, cranked out porn paperbacks, lesbian and otherwise, under assorted pseudonyms. In fact, Block is so well-regarded now that in publishers are bringing out pricy hardcover limited editions of Block's "risque" PBOs, that he originally wrote under pen names such as Andrew Shaw, Sheldon Lord and Jill Emerson.

Block was born in Buffalo, New York, and attended Antioch College in Ohio. His first gig in the publishing world was in the mailroom of a New York publisher. He also worked as for a while as a slush pile reader for a literary agent. He's always said that was an extremely useful experience because it taught him how NOT to write.

He began his writing career penning short stories for crime magazines and the previously-mentioned sex novels (another valuable learning experience, he's said). His first story, "You can't Lose," was published in 1957 and since has written more than fifty novels and countless stories and articles.

As anyone who has ever read any of his books can probably figure out, Block lives in New York City. But I tell ya, the dude gets around.

TRIVIA

• The liner notes for folksinger Dave Van Ronk's Song for Ageing Children album were written by Lawrence Block. Block, in fact, took the title and epigraph for When the Sacred Ginmill Closes from the song Last Call on the same album.

UNDER OATH

• "... a hardboiled P.I. novel from 1961, featuring one Roy Markham, the hero of a TV series at the time. Originally on Belmont, reissued by Carroll & Graf. At the tender age of 22 or 23, Block was already in command of the full arsenal. Parts of this book are dynamite. And I note with pleasure that Block was *not"imitating Chandler."
  (Fellow Rara-Avian Mario Taboada, on You Could Call It Murder)

SHORT STORIES

• "You Can't Lose" (February 1958, Manhunt; Block's first published story)
• "A Fire at Night" (June1958, Manhunt; also 1999, Pure Pulp))
• "Hate Goes Courting" (June 1958, Saturn Web Detective Story Magazine)
• "The Way to Power" (June 1958, Trapped Detective Story Magazine)
• "The Dope" (July 1958, Guilty Detective Story Magazine)
• "Man with a Passion" (July 1958, Sure-Fire Detective Stories)
• "Murder Is My Business" September 1958, Off Beat Detective Stories)
• "Lie Back and Enjoy It" (October 1958, Trapped Detective Story Magazine)
• "The Bad Night" (November 1958, Guilty Detective Story Magazine)
• "One Night of Death" (November 1958, Guilty Detective Story Magazine)
• "Ride a White Horse" (December 1958, Manhunt)
• "Make a Prison" (January 1959, Science Fiction Stories)
• "Bargain in Blood" (February 1959, Off Beat )
• "The Burning Fury" (February 1959, Off Beat)
• "Look Death in the Eye" (April 1959, Saturn Web Detective Story Magazine)
• Look Death in the Eye (ss) Saturn Web Detective Story Magazine Apr 1959
• "Professional Killer" (April 1959, Trapped Detective Story Magazine)
• "Sweet Little Racket" (April 1959, Trapped Detective Story Magazine)
• "Bride of Violence" (November 1959, Two-Fisted Detective Stories)
• "The Badger Game" (February 1960, Trapped Detective Story Magazine)
• "I Don't Fool Around" (February 1961, Trapped Detective Story Magazine)
• "Package Deal" (1961, Ed McBains Mystery Book #3; also1997, American Pulp)
• "A Shroud for the Damned" (April 1962, Keyhole Mystery Magazine)
• "Frozen Stiff" (June 1962, Manhunt)
• "Just Window Shopping" (December 1962, Man's Magazine)
• "'The Naked and the Deadly" (1962, Man's Magazine; Ed London)
• "Twin Call Girls"(1962, Man's Magazine; Ed London)
• "If This Be Madness" (January 1963, AHMM)
• "The Books Always Balance" (July 1963, AHMM)
• "Good for the Soul" (August 1963, AHMM)
• "When This Man Dies" (April 1964, AHMM)
• "Stag Party Girl" (February 1965, Guy; 2001, Pulp Masters; Ed London)
• "Bits and Pieces" (January 1966, AHMM; AKA "With a Smile for the Ending")
• "Passport in Order" (February 1966, AHMM)
• "Pseudo Identity" (November 1966, AHMM)
• "Some Things a Man Must Do" (December 1966, AHMM)
• "Death Wish" (April 1967, AHMM)
• "The Most Unusual Snatch" (April 1967, AHMM)
• "That Kind of Day" (June 1974, AHMM)
• "The Gentle Way" (July 1974, AHMM)
  "Sometimes They Bite" (June 1976, AHMM)
• "Funny You Should Ask" (August 1976, AHMM)
• "A Pair of Recycled Jeans" (Augustt 1976, AHMM; AKA "Funny You Should Ask")
• "The Dettweiler Solution" (September 1976, AHMM)
• "Strangers on a Handball Court" (January 1977, AHMM)
• "Nothing Short of Highway Robbery" (March 1977, AHMM)
• "A Bad Night for Burglars" (April 1977, EQMM; AKA "Gentlemen's Agreement")
• "Like a Dog in the Street (April 1977, AHMM)
• "This Crazy Business of Ours" (May 1977, AHMM)
• "The Dangerous Business" (June 1977, EQMM; AKA "The Dangerous Game")
• "Collecting Ackermans (July 1977, AHMM)
• "Out the Window" (September 1977, AHMM; Matt Scudder)
• "A Candle for the Bag Lady" (November 1977, AHMM; AKA "Like a Lamb to the Slaughter"; Matt Scudder)
• "Click!" (December 1977, AHMM)
• "Change of Life" (January 1978, AHMM)
• "The Ehrengraf Defense" (February 1978, EQMM; AKA "The Ehrengraf Method"; Martin Ehrengraf)
• "One Thousand Dollars a Word" (March 1978, AHMM)
• "The Ehrengraf Presumption" (May 1978, EQMM; Martin Ehrengraf)
• "The Ehrengraf Experience" (August 1978, EQMM; Martin Ehrengraf)
• "Weekend Guests" (August 1978, AHMM)
• "And Miles to Go Before I Sleep" (October 1978, AHMM; AKA "Life After Life")
• "The Ehrengraf Appointment" (December 1978, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine; Martin Ehrengraf)
• "The Ehrengraf Riposte" (December 1978, EQMM; Martin Ehrengraf)
• "Hot Eyes, Cold Eyes" (1978, Gallery)
• "The Ehrengraf Obligation" (March 1979, EQMM; Martin Ehrengraf)
• "Going Through the Motions" (August 12, 1981, EQMM)
• "The Ehrengraf Alternative" (September 1982, EQMM; Martin Ehrengraf)
• "Like a Thief in the Night" (May 1983, Cosmopolitan; Bernie Rhodenbarr)
• "The Ehrengraf Nostrum" (May 1984, EQMM; Martin Ehrengraf)
• "By the Dawn's Early Light (August 1984, Playboy; Matt Scudder)
• "The Boy Who Disappeared Clouds" (December 1984, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
• "Death of the Mallory Queen" (1984, Like a Lamb to the Slaughter; Chip Harrison)
• "Leo Youngdahl, R.I.P." (1984, Like a Lamb to the Slaughter)
• "You Could Call It Blackmail" (For Women Only; also 1984, Like a Lamb To The Slaughter)
• "Like a Bug on a Windshield" (October 1985, EQMM)
• "As Good as a Rest" (August 1986, EQMM)
• "Cleveland in My Dreams" (February 1989, EQMM)
• "The Burglar Who Dropped in on Elvis" (April 1990, Playboy; Bernie Rhodenbarr)
• "Answers to Soldier" (June 1990, Playboy; Keller)
• "Batman's Helpers" (1990, Justice for Hire; Matt Scudder)
• "Something to Remember You By" (July/August 1991, New Mystery [magazine])
• "A Blow for Freedom" (October 1991, Playboy)
• "Hilliard's Ceremony" (Summer 1992, The Armchair Detective)
• "The Merciful Angel of Death" (1993, New Mystery [anthology]; Matt Scudder)
• "Keller's Therapy" (May 1993, Playboy; Keller)
• "How Would You Like It?" (1993, Monsters in Our Midst)
• "Some Days You Get the Bear (1993, Penthouse)
• "Someday I'll Plant More Walnut Trees" (1993, Some Days You Get the Bear)
• "The Tulsa Experience" (1993, Some Days You Get the Bear)
• "Dogs Walked, Plants Watered" (May 1994, Playboy; Keller)
• "Keller on Horseback" (1994, Murder Is My Business; Keller)
• "Keller's Karma" (February 1995, Playboy; Keller)
• "Keller in Shining Armor" (November 1995, Playboy; Keller)
• "The Ehrengraf Affirmation" (March 1997, EQMM; Martin Ehrengraf)
• "The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke" (Summer/Fall 1997, MHCMM; with Lynne Wood Block; Bernie Rhodenbarr)
• "How Far It Could Go" (1997, The Plot Thickens)
• "Keller on the Spot" (November 1997, Playboy; Keller)
• "Headaches and Bad Dreams" December 1997, EQMM)
• "As Dark As Christmas Gets" (1997, Mysterious Press Christmas Card; also December 1998, EQMM; Chip Harrison)
• "How Far It Could Go?" (1997, The Plot Thickens)
• "Looking for David" (1997, Whydunit; also February 1998, EQMM; Matt Scudder)
• "I Suppose You're Wondering..." (1998, Murder on the Run, The Adams Round Table)
• "Keller's Choice (1998, Murder on the Run, The Adams Round Table; Keller)
• "Keller's Last Refuge (March 1998, Playboy; Keller)
• "Like a Bone in the Throat" (1998, Murder for Revenge)
• "Keller in Retirement" (1998; Keller)
• "Three in the Side Pocket" (1998, Hot Blood X)
• "In for a Penny" (December 1999, EQMM)
• "Keller's Art" (Spring 2000, Modern Painters)
• "Murder at the Roundtable" (Summer 2000, MHCMM)
• "Let's Get Lost" (September/October 2000, EQMM; Matt Scudder)
• "Sweet Little Hands" (2001, Flesh & Blood)
• "Keller's Designated Hitter" (2001, Murderer's Row; Keller)
• "Keller's Horoscope" (2001, Death by Horoscope)
• "Speaking of Lust" (2001, Speaking of Lust)
• "Speaking of Greed" (2001, Speaking of Greed)
• "The Night and the Music" (2002, Enough Rope; Matt Scudder)
• "Keller and the Rabbits" (April 14, 2003, Audiobooks Today)
• "Terrible Tommy Terhune" (2003, Murder Is My Racquet)
• "Keller's Adjustment" (2005, Transgressions; Keller)
• "Keller By a Nose" (2006, Murder at the Racetrack; Keller)
• "Welcome to the Real World," (2006, Murder in the Rough)
• "A Vision in White" (June 2007, EQMM)
  .
• Also these, whose source and/or first date of publication I can't find:
• "You Don't Even Feel It (ss)..
• "A Little Off The Top" (Gallery; also 1984, Like a Lamb To The Slaughter)

NOVELS

• Babe in the Woods (1960; as William Ard, Lou Largo)
• Death Pulls a Double Cross (1961; AKA Coward's Kiss; Ed London)
• $20 Lust (1961; as Andrew Shaw; soft core porn; AKA "Cinderalla Sims")
• Mona (AKA "Grifter's Game") (r)...Buy this book
• The Case of the Pornographic Photos (1961; AKA "You Could Call It Murder"; Roy Markham)
• Reform School Girls (1962; as Andrew Shaw; lesbian novel)
• Lucky at Cards (1964; originally by Sheldon Lord) .. Buy this book
• The Girl With the Long, Green Heart (1965) ...Buy this book
• The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep (1966; Tanner)...Buy this book
• The Canceled Czech (1966; Tanner) ...Buy this book
• Deadly Honeymoon (1967)
• Tanner's Twelve Swingers (1967; Tanner) ...Buy this book
• Two For Tanner (1967; Tanner; AKA "The Scoreless Thai)...Buy this book
• Here Comes A Hero (1968; Tanner; AKA "Tanner's Virgin") . Buy this book
• Tanner's Tiger (1968; Tanner) ...Buy this book
• Deadly Honeymoon (1967)
• After the First Death (1969)
• Sex and the Stewardess (1969; as John Warren Wells)
• The Specialists (1969)
• Such Men Are Dangerous (1969; as Paul Kavanagh)
• Threesome (1970, as Jill Emerson)
• No Score (1970; Chip Harrison)
• Me Tanner, You Jane (1970; Tanner) ...Buy this book
• The Triumph of Evil (1971; as Paul Kavanagh)
• Ronald Rabbit Is a Dirty Old Man (1971)
• Chip Harrison Scores Again (1971; Chip Harrison)
• A Week as Andrea Benstock (1973; as Jill Emerson)
• The Trouble With Eden (1973; as Jill Emerson)
• Not Comin' Home To You (1974; as Paul Kavanagh)
• Make Out With Murder (1974; AKA Five Little Rich Girls; Chip Harrison)
• The Topless Tulip Caper (1975;; Chip Harrison)
• The Sins of the Fathers (1976; Matt Scudder)
• Time to Murder and Create (1976; Matt Scudder)
• In the Midst of Death (1976; Matt Scudder)
• Burglars Can't Be Choosers (1977; Bernie Rhodenbarr)
• The Burglar in the Closet (1978; Bernie Rhodenbarr)
• The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling (1979; Bernie Rhodenbarr) ...Buy this book
• Ariel (1980)
• The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza (1980; Bernie Rhodenbarr)
• A Stab in the Dark (1981; Matt Scudder)
• Code of Arms (1981; WWll spy adventure; written with Harold King)
• Eight Million Ways to Die (1982; Matt Scudder)
• The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian (1983; Bernie Rhodenbarr)
• Sweet Slow Death (1986?)
• When the Sacred Ginmill Closes (1986; Matt Scudder)
• Into The Night (1987; completion of novel by Cornell Woolrich)
• Random Walk (1988)
• Out on the Cutting Edge (1989; Matt Scudder)
• A Ticket to the Boneyard (1990; Matt Scudder)
• A Dance at the Slaughterhouse (1991; Matt Scudder)
• The Perfect Murder : Five Great Mystery Writers Create the Perfect Crime (1991; with Jack Hitt, Tony Hillerman, Donald Westlake, et al )
• A Walk Among the Tombstones (1992; Matt Scudder)
• The Devil Knows You're Dead (1993; Matt Scudder)
• The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams (1994; Bernie Rhodenbarr) ...Buy this book
• A Long Line of Dead Men ( 1994; Matt Scudder)
• The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart (1995; Bernie Rhodenbarr)... Buy this book
• The Burglar In The Library (1997; Bernie Rhodenbarr)
• Even the Wicked (1997; Matt Scudder).. Buy this book
• Tanner on Ice (1998; Tanner) ...Buy this book
• Everybody Dies (1998; Matt Scudder)...Buy this book
• The Burglar In The Rye (1999; Bernie Rhodenbarr)... Buy this book
• Hit List (October 2000; Keller)..Buy this book
• Hope To Die (2001; Matt Scudder). Buy this book
• Small Town (2003)...Buy this book
• The Burglar on the Prowl (2004; Bernie Rhodenbarr)..Buy this book
• All the Flowers are Dying (2005; Matt Scudder)....Buy this book
• Hit Parade (2006; Keller).. Buy this book

COLLECTIONS

• Sometimes They Bite (1983)
• Like a Lamb To The Slaughter (1984)
• Some Days You Get The Bear (1994)
• Hit Man (1998; Keller) .Buy this book
• One Night Stands (1998)
• Collected Mystery Stories (1999)
• Ehrengraf for the Defense (Martin Ehrengraf)
• The Lost Cases of Ed London (2001; Ed London)...Buy this book
• Enough Rope (2002)...Buy this book
• "A Chance to Get Even" (September/October 2007, EQMM)

NON-FICTION

• Writing the Novel From Plot To Print (1979)
• Telling Lies for Fun and Profit (1981)...Buy this book
• Write for Your Life (1986 )
• Spider, Spin Me a Web: A Handbook for Fiction Writers (1988)...Buy this book
• After Hours: Conversations With Lawrence Block (1995)
• Gangsters, Swindlers, Killers, And Thieves: The Lives and Crimes of Fifty American Villains (2004) ...Buy this book
  An illustrated rogues' gallery of assassins, outlaws, bootleggers, con artists, and scoundrel from American history, including everyone from Jesse James to Dutch Schultz.

AS EDITOR

• Death Cruise
• Master's Choice
• Opening Shots
• Master's Choice 2 (2000)...Buy this book
• Speaking of Wrath: Stories of Vindictive Anger (2002)

FILMS

• NIGHTMARE HONEYMOON
  (1973, MGM)
  Based on the novel "Deadly Honeymoon" by Lawrence Block
  Screenplay by S. Lee Pogostin 
  Directed by Elliott Silverstein
  Starring Dack Rambo and Rebecca Diana Smith
  Also starring John Beck, Jim Boles, Dennis Burkley, Angela Clarke, Pat Hingle, David Huddleston, Bob Steele
  Lawrence Block himself says "I can't imagine why anyone would voluntarily watch it all the way through."
  .
• EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE...Buy this video
  (1986, Producer Sales Organisation)
  Based on the novel by Lawrence Block
  Directed by Hal Ashby
  Starring Jeff Bridges as MATT SCUDDER
  New York becomes Los Angeles.
  .
• BURGLAR
  (1987)
  102 minutes
  VERY loosely based on The Burglar in the Closet by Lawrence Block
  Directed by Hugh Wilson
  Starring Whoopie Goldberg as BERNIE?
  Also starring Bobcat Goldthwait
  New York becomes San Francisco. And Bernie becomes... Whoopi Goldberg? All casting directors on drugs please raise their hands.

RELATED LINKS

• Lawrence Block.com
  The official site, maintained for loyal Blockhead Maggie Griffin, irreverent as all hell, and fun as all git out, full of vital info about the author, his books, his short stories, his newsletter, his upcoming projects, his seemingly endless book tour and everything else. And you can also buy autographed copies here (credit cards gleefully accepted). Although, you know what they say -- the really rare, really collectible Block is the unsigned copy.

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks, George.