Elmore Leonard
Overview
Elmore John Leonard Jr. (born October 11, 1925), better known as Elmore Leonard, is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

ist and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns
Western fiction
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...

, but Leonard went on to specialize 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...

 and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.

Among his best-known works are Get Shorty
Get Shorty
Get Shorty is a 1990 novel by American novelist Elmore Leonard. In 1995, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name.-Plot summary:...

, Out of Sight
Out of Sight
Out of Sight is a 1998 American crime film. The film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. It was the first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and star George Clooney. The film was released on June 26, 1998. It was nominated for two...

, Hombre
Hombre (novel)
Hombre is a novel by American author Elmore Leonard, published in 1961. It was adapted into a film in 1967. It tells the story of an Apache man, John Russell, who leads the passengers of an attacked stagecoach through the desert to safety....

, Mr. Majestyk
Mr. Majestyk
Mr. Majestyk is a 1974 American action film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Charles Bronson. The film is based on a novel written by Elmore Leonard.-Plot:...

and Rum Punch, which was filmed as Jackie Brown
Jackie Brown (film)
Jackie Brown is a 1997 American crime drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is an adaptation of the novel Rum Punch by American novelist Elmore Leonard and pays homage to 1970s blaxploitation films....

.
Quotations

For a long time I've been walking down life's road with my two pals, Bad Luck and Bad Choices. Fortunately I'm a big believer in new beginnings, new friends, and running from my problems. So one day I decided to head for the island. Aloha, my name is Jack.

Jack Ryan, The Big Bounce|The Big Bounce (1969)

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Newsweek (April 22, 1985)

I leave out the parts that people skip.

When asked about the popularity of his detective novels, quoted by William Zinsser, A Family of Readers Book-of-the-Month Club (1986)

What do you tell a man with two black eyes? Nothing, he's already been told twice.

Darryl, Be Cool (1999)

My grandson, Max, who is an all state lacrosse player, once gave me some lacrosse advice: A limp pass is like a limp dick; it doesn't get the job done. I think the same can be said about limp writing.

Elmore's Ten Rules of Writing (2007)

After 58 years you'd think writing would get easier. It doesn't. If you're lucky, you become harder to please. That's all right, it's still a pleasure.

"Making It Up as I Go Along", AARP Magazine 52 (4A), July/August 2009

Well, the man don't just have to die, Foley. I mean, he could accidentally hurt himself falling down on something real hard, you know? Like a shiv, or my dick?

Maurice "Snoopy" Miller,

It's like seeing someone for the first time, and you look at each other for a few seconds, and there's this kind of recognition like you both know something. Next moment the person's gone, and it's too late to do anything about it.

Jack Foley

I know a guy who walks into a bank with a little glass bottle. He tells everyone it's nitroglycerin. He scores some money off the teller, walks out. On his way out, the bottle breaks, he slips on it and knocks himself out. The "nitro" was Canola oil. I know more fucked-up bank robbers than ones who know what they're doing. I doubt if one in twenty could tell you where the dye pack is. Most bank robbers are fucking morons.

Jack Foley

 
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