Donald E. Westlake
Overview
Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...

, especially comic capers
Caper story
The caper story is a subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes perpetrated by the main characters in full view of the reader...

, with an occasional foray into science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 or other genres. He was a three-time Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 winner, one of only two writers (the other is Joe Gores
Joe Gores
Joe Gores was an American mystery writer...

) to win Edgars in three different categories (1968, Best Novel, God Save the Mark; 1990, Best Short Story, "Too Many Crooks"; 1991, Best Motion Picture Screenplay, The Grifters
The Grifters (film)
The Grifters is a 1990 neo-noir film directed by Stephen Frears and produced by Martin Scorsese. It stars John Cusack, Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening and is based upon The Grifters, a pulp novel by Jim Thompson.-Plot:...

).
Quotations

In order to hold your faith intact be sure it's kept unsullied by fact.

Don't Ask (1993)

What did Jesus Christ|Jesus Christ say to the Teamsters|Teamsters? 'Do nothing till I get back.'

Walking Around Money (2005)

Eyes wide and blank as the buttons on a first Communion|first Communion coat.

Ask the Parrot (2006), writing as Donald E. WestlakePseudonyms|Richard Stark.

The August sun, God's blood-blister...

Watch Your Back (2006)

New York doesn't exactly have neighborhoods, the way most cities do. What it has is closer to distinct and separate villages, some of them existing on different continents, some of them existing in different centuries, and many of them at war with one another. English is not the primary language in many of these villages, but the Roman alphabet does still have a slight edge.

What's So Funny? (2007)

Brian had all that day to figure out what was going on, and yet he didn't.

What's So Funny? (2007)

 
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