Note: This is my contribution to Donald Westlake Day, hosted by Patti Abbott. Her post with the full roundup of DEW Day links is here (and it will likely be updated throughout the day, so do check back). Many thanks to all participants and to Patti for putting this together.
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The setup of Money for Nothing is tasty: Josh Redmont, struggling as most young people do while attempting to start a career post-college, begins getting a check in the mail for $1000 every month. He makes some efforts to find out where they’re coming from, but his efforts are fruitless. Oh, well. He cashes them, for seven years.
In those years, Josh has established himself professionally and married a beautiful wife, with whom he has had a son. One summer, when setting off for a weekend visit to see his wife and child who are vacationing on Fire Island, a man approaches Josh and tells him, “You are now active.”
Nice, right?
There is much of interest in Money for Nothing, but I’m not sure that I’m writer enough to mention everything I’d like to mention in a coherent, well-structured review, so instead I’m going to take advantage of the blog format and post some assorted thoughts on the novel that I probably couldn’t get all in if I were aiming for seamless transitions.
- This is a book involving terrorism that was published in 2003, when the wounds of September 11, 2001 were still bleeding for many Americans. It is set in 1999 or 2000, and had to be. Had it been set in 2003, the characters would have reacted completely differently to their circumstances. The book is set in and around New York City, so completely differently.
- I wonder if this one wasn’t written just before September 11 and then published with minor tweaks after it felt safe.
- If that all makes the book sound too serious, it isn’t. It’s a humorous novel with a plot that involves terrorism. I doubt anyone found anything offensive or even insensitive about it even in 2003.
- Westlake does take a minor jab at his conception of realpolitik, but by and large this isn’t a political novel. That part could be read as a stab at the reaction of the Bush Administration to September 11, but when this book was published, President Bush hadn’t done most of the things that upset most of the Left and some of the Right. This lends credence to my theory that it was written prior to September 11. Whatever your views, Money for Nothing won’t ruffle your feathers. In this context, that’s a positive.
- It’s not important why for review purposes, but Josh Redmont has accidentally become a sleeper agent for a foreign power. Despite dalliances in college radicalism, the label traitor being attached to his name horrifies him. Patriotism, often fairly deep patriotism, is the default position of most Americans, and American readers will, on the whole, understand Josh’s reaction.
- I saw a reflection of The Blackbird in the meditation (too strong a word, but I can’t think of a better one) on patriotism. Alan Grofield’s default position is not patriotism, although by the end of that book it’s suggested that he might understand it a little better. (This is a much better book than The Blackbird.)
- Westlake uses some other Westlake stand-bys as well. Actors and theater play a big (and funny) role in Money for Nothing. How many books did Westlake write involving actors and theater? Grofield of course, Memory, a sleaze novel or two, Backflash, some I’m forgetting, and without doubt some I haven’t yet read. This isn’t a criticism. The use of a local theater and an acting teacher in Memory couldn’t be more different from the use of same in Money for Nothing. I heard not long ago an interview with Westlake where he compared himself to a jazz musician. I’m not sure he meant it this way, but he was certainly wonderful at taking certain elements and improvising radically different variations on them.
- The one false note is that a younger Josh had a stint in the Army. It doesn’t make sense for the character, who is an Everyman, not a Tough Guy. There’s a reason that Westlake had Josh briefly working for Uncle Sam, but the Army was the wrong pick for that job.
- It would need some changes for the screen, but the foundation is here for a really witty movie. I doubt Hollywood could pull it off these days, but Blake Edwards could have had a ball with it.
- I really liked this book, and I also suspect that I’m a bit more fond of it than most other readers will be. Like me and A Knight’s Tale. You can probably think of some equivalent for yourself.
- This was Donald Westlake’s last novel that wasn’t about Dortmunder or Parker.
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Westlake wrote a number of “political” novels. The best of these is Ex Officio (also published as POWER PLAY) by Timothy J. Culver, one of Westlake’s many pseudonyms.
Trent, probably a bit late to respond to this, particularly since I haven’t gotten to Money for Nothing yet. But having read a lot of early Westlake lately, I note that one thing most of the novels I’m reading have in common is a lead character who was in the military for a short stint. And this is because Westlake himself was in the Air Force. Practically the only thing we know about Parker’s early life, for example, is that he served in WWII (which many have said was impossible, but there are known cases of boys in their early teens lying about their ages to get in). It was a really important experience for Westlake, and he returned to it again and again over his writing career.
Now back when Westlake was a young man, they had the draft, and it was very common for young men to go into the military for a short time even if they weren’t drafted–my dad did, and got to see a lot of western Europe as a result–this was Cold War era. Now, of course, people only tend to join up if they either want a career in the military or else they’re looking to pay for college, or get some kind of specialized training, or all of the above. And after 9/11, some people joined up out of a renewed sense of patriotism.
But this book, as you mention, takes place before 9/11, and this guy didn’t want a military career, nor does he seem to have gotten any special training. So I can understand it seeming a bit incongruous for this character to be a veteran. It may be that Westlake was just falling back on old patterns. I’d have to read it.
But seriously, joining the army in the United States, even today, does not mean you’re a tough guy. These days, it pretty much just means you passed the physical, you’re reasonably literate, and you haven’t committed any major felonies. :)
My dad lied about his age to fight in Korea–he was 16; he also gave up a burgeoning career as a pop singer with his 4 boy harmony group. They’d appeared on Arthur Godfrey and were getting serious recording contract offers. James Garner enlisted when he was 14, to fight in WW2. Not uncommon amongst that generation.
I’m not sure Parker’s age is given, except in The Handle, I think he’s 36. I could be mistaken, though. But remember, the Parker of the later books is still mid-40’s, DEW didn’t want an arthritic heister–Heister, Lyons, not Jugger;-) lol
But the big shock of this post: I never know DEW wrote under this psuedonym! I have more DEW to read! Yaaay! Where was I when this became public knowledge? I know about the Curt Clark stuff, the Tucker Coe stuff, the Holt stuff, the porn stuff, either I must have forgotten this or else I was asleep at the wheel when I read his bibliography!
I’m sort of back. Hope to be full speed soon!
Chris:
“It may be that Westlake was just falling back on old patterns.”
Yep, that’s exactly it. It was much more common for people to serve a stint in the military from when DEW was born until the draft was put on hold (I can’t say abolished, because it can always be brought back) by President Nixon. A character like this fellow being drafted and being done with it as soon as he could be would make sense, if the book took place back when we had a draft. Him actually enlisting does not, at least given what we’re told about him in the book.
It’s a minor flaw, but I thought it was worth pointing out.
Also, I don’t think there’s ever a reference to Parker serving in WWII or any other war. My memory of The Hunter (which is the only place I can recall it being mentioned) is that it only said that he was briefly in the Army. If I’m wrong about that, it would be an interesting avenue for exploration.
Clue and David:
I’ve deleted your comments about the Yahoo group not working since the matter seems to have resolved itself.
David:
Fascinating story about your dad! Based on the year, I’m guessing he was in a doo-wop group?
In The Hunter, we’re told Parker was stationed in Germany–which could have been in the 1950’s, like my dad–but in The Outfit, we’re told he was in from 1942-44, and was given a bad conduct discharge for black marketeering. So he certainly would have been a teenager, given what we’re told about his age at the time of the first few books. Somebody ought to do a Parker timeline, at some point–see how well it holds together.
Westlake always put something of himself into his protagonists, and his military service was such an influential thing for him. I think he felt it accelerated his maturation in some respects, and delayed it in others. Seems like he always felt out of sync with most of his peers, since he went to college after he got out. So not surprising he kept returning to it, but it does make less sense for a novel set in the very late 20th century.
Still, people do sometimes join the army simply because they don’t know what else to do with themselves–if it’s not based on a decision to have a military career (or to train for a post-military career), it can simply be a way of avoiding having to make a decision about a career, which does seem to fit the protagonist of Money For Nothing, based on what I’ve read about it. I’ll be getting to that one in good time. Just finished “Pity Him Afterwards.”
“Still, people do sometimes join the army simply because they don’t know what else to do with themselves–if it’s not based on a decision to have a military career (or to train for a post-military career), it can simply be a way of avoiding having to make a decision about a career, which does seem to fit the protagonist of Money For Nothing, based on what I’ve read about it.”
This gets back to my remark that he’s not a Tough Guy. No, you don’t have to be a tough guy to be in the army, but if it’s casually mentioned in a novel that the character was in the army, it’s a signifier for tough guy, unless other explanation is given.
The “don’t know what else to do with themselves” explanation makes complete sense for the character in the abstract, and would in the concrete if it had been explicated (even just two or three sentences) in the book. It wasn’t, so I think your initial impulse that a stint in the military was just something young men did in Westlake’s day, so he fell back on that when he needed his character to briefly work for the government, is probably the correct one. That was my thought when reading the book.
Again, I’d want to read the book before definitively agreeing or disagreeing. But I can’t agree that saying “He was in the army” means “He’s a tough guy.” Not in fiction, not in life. It can be a way to explain why a character knows how to fight or handle firearms, but Westlake didn’t always use it that way. Some of his ex-military characters are anything but tough.
Based on the premise of the book, it does sound to me like the protagonist is drifting a bit–otherwise why does he just take free money that comes in the mail without explanation, without thinking there might be strings attached?
Welcome Back Trent,
Yeah, it was doo wop; the group’s name was The King Chords. I have a black and white photo of them on stage in their white tuxedos. I once asked my dad, who’s still in great shape at 78, why he gave up pursuing a career in show biz to enlist in the Army, and he looked at me like he didn’t comprehend, and said, “Because a war was on. It was my duty.” Like I said before, that generation was special.
Guys, it makes no sense making a literal timeline of Parker’s age. These characters are essentially timeless. Parker, Travis McGee, Spenser, they don’t age like us mere mortals. The funniest was Richard S. Prather’s Shell Scott. When he premiered in 1949’s Pattern For Murder (Prather published this under the David Knight psuedonym), Shell was 30 years old. Prather’s last book, The Death Gods, was released a few months ago, and guess how old Shell is? You got it: 30 years old.
David:
Oh, neat! The King Chords–what a perfect name for a doo-wop group.
Tell your father thank you for his service! My grandfather was in WWII. Served in the Phillipines, although he didn’t see combat. Good thing for me that he served, because he met my grandmother in South Dakota, where he was initially stationed.
When Westlake brought Parker back, he sensibly decided that Parker would go the Dick Tracy route and quit aging. Interesting contrast with Mike Hammer, who Spillane stuck with the timeline on.
And because of that, you’re right, a Parker timeline wouldn’t make much sense. But it might still be fun!
It might make sense up to a point–say up to Butcher’s Moon. No question there’s a sudden jump forward for the later novels. I wouldn’t say Parker and the other characters carried over from the earlier books stopped aging, so much as that they just got shuffled forward in time a quarter century or so, at which point they started aging again. From their perspective, only a year or two has passed between the events of Butcher’s Moon and Comeback. In the four novels after Comeback, Westlake didn’t recap much from previous books, the way he did in the first sixteen. Then the final three were basically one long story that took place over several weeks.
I resist the notion that Parker is like Archie Andrews (would Claire be Betty or Veronica?). He does age. He just does it his own way. Like he does everything else.
Cool posts! Now I feel compelled to share a bit of my family history as well! My Mother was from England, near Liverpool. Prior to the start of WWII, my Mom and her 3 younger sisters formed a singing group “The Tallant Sisters – 4 in Harmony”. Tallant was their actual last name. They performed all around the area and were frequent headliners at the theater in the resort town of Southport. We have one professional photo that was taken of them behind the microphone and one poster showing them as headliners. Their father was their manager. When the war began in England in late 1939, they had to put their career on hold, permanently as it turned out. My Dad was in the US Army, stationed in England prior to the D-Day invasion. He met my Mom at a dance in Southport the day before Easter, 1944. My Dad first danced with my aunt, then asked my Mom. Mom turned to my aunt and said “Well how was he?”. My aunt said, “He dances allright for a yank.” My Dad was very proud to serve in Patton’s 3rd Army. He was a company clerk and they basically followed behind the action. Lucky for him or I may not be here to tell this story. My Mom and Dad were married in May 1945. My Mom came to America in 1946 on the first ship of British war brides to hit US shores. I am the youngest of 5 kids (born 1958). We were fortunate to be able to take a few trips to England over the years and have had a lot of visits from family as well. Whenever my Mom and her sisters got together, they would always do a mini Tallant Sisters reunion concert for the family. They were always fabulous! My Mom passed away in 1993 and my Dad in 2000. Only one of the Tallant Sisters still remains. Great memories!
I’m glad Westlake went the ageless character route. Parker would have been far less effective in the later books as an 80 year old man :-b
Clue
He wouldn’t be 80, though. The 25 years between Butcher’s Moon and Comeback are effectively erased, so that Westlake doesn’t have to explain why there’s no internet or cellphones.
He sounds older in the later books. He has definitely aged. Just not as much as you’d expect.
Hey, Jack LaLanne was fitter at 80 than any of us are now.
;)
You know, I did the math–which is far from precise–but let’s say Parker was born in 1928, which would make him 14 when he joined the army–far from impossible, since Calvin Graham got into the Navy at 12, and there are other cases. This fits in with his being 38 in The Handle (the age we’re told he is in that novel), which was published in 1966. So he’s around 44 in Butcher’s Moon–maybe a bit younger, no older.
Then Westlake takes his quarter century break from Parker–and when he returns to the character, time suddenly shifts forward for Parker, Claire, and a few other characters from the novels. Now there are cellphones and the internet, and increasingly fast record checks, and life for a heister has gotten more complicated–and yet we know only a short time–a year or two at most–has passed from Parker’s perspective. Westlake is asking us to accept this without questioning, and he gave us a lot of really great books, so that’s not such a big deal is it? Of course not. So at the time of Comeback he’s no more than 46.
Now no reason to assume he’s working less frequently than he was before, so the next four novels certainly couldn’t have taken place over more than four years–if that. So by the time of Breakout, he’s no more than 50 years old–for a guy like Parker, that’s not old at all. From his perspective, maybe 15 years have passed since the events of The Hunter.
And then comes Nobody Runs Forever, Ask the Parrot, and Dirty Money–which even though they were written over the course of four or five years, take place within the course of a few weeks. Westlake is deliberately informing us that time is now passing much more slowly for Parker than it is for us–or for Westlake–which he isn’t doing because he thinks Parker is ageless–he’s doing it because he knows Parker IS getting older, and he doesn’t know how many more years he’ll be writing Parker novels. Bet you anything that if there’d been a novel after Dirty Money published several years later, we’d have been informed it was only a very short time since the events of that book. If Parker was truly ageless, it wouldn’t matter how much time had passed. But he isn’t. He cheated time only by virtue of his author moving him forward chronologically, to keep him contemporary, and to explore the possibilities of an old school heister in the Information Age.
We see men in their 50’s involved in heisting in the Parker novels. And none of them are are formidable as Parker (and honestly, who is?). So there’s nothing in this that’s remotely hard to swallow, once you’ve accepted the Great Leap Forward. Parker isn’t ageless, and he isn’t 80. Problem solved. You’re welcome. ;)
Clue, you have a childhood worthy of a novel:-) Very cool story. I see your parents and Trent’s met under romantic circumstances: mine met while they were both drunk in a Country and Western bar;-) lol
Chris, uh… Yeah, I could see what you’re saying. But remember, DEW doesn’t give exact dates when the books take place, does he? Just because DEW published Comeback in 97 doesn’t mean the novel took place in 97. Maybe it took place in 90. Cell phones were around then. But even if the books pub dates are accurate, it’s feasible that Parker could be in his 70’s and still heisting. Gene Hackman starred in Heist at age 72, and seemed as tough and deadly as he ever did.
Nice analysis. Parker in his 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or 80’s would undoubtedly be in better shape and tougher than the rest of are while much younger. Some guys are just tough…for life. Clint Eastwood is a bad ass even today. Or Chuck Norris. Maybe an additional Parker novel would have had a scene where he tows a boat full of people across a bay while swimming, as Jack LaLanne did several times. Of course, Parker would rob them all when he got to the other side. ;-b
Yeah, somehow I think Parker would skip the towing part. He likes swimming, but not that much. :)
David:
The full story is even more romantic than my abridged version. My grandfather and two of his army buddies were walking around one day and met three sisters. Each of those three GIs married one of those sisters, and all of them stayed married ’til death did them part. My grandmother (in her 90s) is the only one left.
If someone put it in a script, critics would say that the situation sounds contrived and couldn’t happen, but it did.
And nothing wrong with meeting in a bar where they play both kinds of music. ;)
Dave: who says you can’t be drunk and romantic at the same time?!
Trent: Nice post script to your story! That would have made a great post war musical: Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor meet Rosemary Clooney, Jane Powell and Mitzi Gaynor!
Clue:
Nice call on a post-war musical! It would be a fun one.
The only problem with that is that I’m related to all of those people so I know damn well they can’t (or couldn’t) dance.
Those genes were passed on to me. ;)