Donald Westlake, Brian Garfield, and Lawrence Block

Work and baseball and the piano--a trifecta sure to lead eventually to crime and the gutter--are preventing me from putting up a proper post today. But you're in luck: over at the blog of my employer, the University of Chicago Press, we've just posted an interview I conducted with Brian Garfield (author of, among other novels, Death Wish) about his long friendship with Donald Westlake, their many collaborations, and his aborted screenplay for Butcher's Moon.

Even better: Garfield was kind enough to send us some photos of Westlake and the crew at the fabled Mysterious Bookshop poker game, circa 1972. The sight of Westlake's giant goatee alone is worth clicking over for.



Oh, and Butcher's Moon is available now, along with the first two post-hiatus Parker novels, Comeback and Backflash. Westlake's friend (and fellow Mysterious Bookshop poker player) Lawrence Block has written three different dynamite forewords for this batch. I recommend you go get 'em on your lunch hour, then close the door to your office and read away the afternoon.