Block, Lawrence

Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1994. Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Lawrence Block attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, but left before graduating. His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the 1950s, was mostly in the porn paperback industry, an apprenticeship he shared with fellow mystery author Donald E. Westlake. The first of his "own" work to appear was the 1957 story "You Can't Lose." He has since published more than fifty novels and more than a hundred short stories, as well as a series of books for writers.

Block has lived in New York City for decades, setting most of his fiction there, and has come to be very closely associated with the city. He is married to Lynne Block, and has three daughters, Amy Reichel, Jill Block and Alison Pouliot, from an earlier marriage. With Lynne, he spends much of his time traveling (the two have been to 135 countries),^[1] but continues to consider New York his home. Block's most famous creation, the ever-evolving Matthew Scudder, was introduced in 1976's The Sins of the Fathers as an alcoholic ex-cop working as an unlicensed private investigator in Hell's Kitchen. Block's other major series, humorous and much lighter in tone, relates the misadventures of gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. The series is rich in sophisticated, witty dialogue.

My Opinion: I really like his writing and His Bernie Rhodenbarr books in particular. Very light and humorous but presenting lots of ethical dilemmas to be worked through. I strongly recommend him. Cant find e books for him 10/18

• 1. Selected bibliography[edit]

  2. Matthew Scudder novels[edit]

• 1. Bernie Rhodenbarr novels[edit]

• 1. There are also three Bernie Rhodenbarr short stories: "Like a Thief in the Night" (Cosmopolitan, May 1983), "The Burglar Who Dropped In On Elvis" (Playboy, April 1990), and "The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke" (Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine, Summer/Fall 1997). These stories are collected in the 2002 anthology, Enough Rope.

  2. Evan Tanner novels[edit]

• 1. Chip Harrison novels/stories (as Chip Harrison)[edit]

• 1. A collection of eighty-four short stories, Enough Rope (2002), contains two Chip Harrison stories.

  2. Keller novels[edit]

• 1. A collection of eighty-four short stories, Enough Rope (2002), contains five Keller stories.

  2. Written as Jill Emerson[edit]

• • • Warm and Willing (1964)

    • Enough of Sorrow (1965)

    • Thirty (1970)

    • Threesome (1970)

    • A Madwoman's Diary (1972)

    • The Trouble with Eden (1973)

    • A Week as Andrea Benstock (1975)

    • Getting Off (2011)

    • Shadows (2016)

• 1. Written as Paul Kavanagh[edit]

• • • Such Men Are Dangerous (1969)

    • The Triumph of Evil (1971)

    • Not Comin' Home to You (1974)

• 1. Written as Sheldon Lord[edit]

• • • Carla (Midwood Books, 1958)

    • Born to Be Bad (Tower Publications, 1959)

    • 69 Barrow Street (Tower Publications, 1959)

    • A Strange Kind of Love (Tower Publications, 1960)

    • Of Shame and Joy: An Original Novel (Midwood Books, 1960)

    • A Woman Must Love (Tower Publications, 1960)

    • Midwood 035: Kept (Tower Publications, 1960)

    • Candy (Tower Publications, 1960)

    • 21 Gay Street: An Original Novel (Tower Publications, 1960)

    • April North (Softcover Library, 1961)

    • Pads are for Passion (Beacon Press, 1961) (reissued by Hard Case Crime as A Diet of Treacle)

    • Community of Women (Beacon Press, 1963)

    • The Sex Shuffle (Universal Publishing and Distribution, 1964) (reissued by Hard Case Crime as Lucky at Cards)

    • Savage Lover (Softcover Library, 1968) (written in 1958; reissued by Hard Case Crime as Sinner Man)

    • Pleasure Machine (Midwood Books, 1968)

• 1. Written as Andrew Shaw[edit]

• • • Circle of Sinners (1961) - in collaboration with Hal Dresner

    • Border Lust (1962) (reissued by Hard Case Crime as Borderline)

• • • Fidel Castro Assassinated (1961) (reissued by Hard Case Crime as Killing Castro)

• 1. Written as Anne Campbell Clark[edit]

• • • Passport to Peril (1967)

• 1. Written as Ben Christopher[edit]

• • • Strange Embrace (1962) - originally written as a tie-in to Johnny Midnight (TV series)

• 1. In collaboration with Donald E. Westlake[edit]

• • • A Girl Called Honey (Midwood Books, 1960, credited to Sheldon Lord and Alan Marshall)

    • So Willing (Midwood Books, 1960, credited to Sheldon Lord and Alan Marshall)

    • Sin Hellcat (Nightstand Books, 1961, credited to Andrew Shaw)

• 1. Other fiction[edit]

• • • Strange Are The Ways of Love (1958), as Lesley Evans (reissued in 2016 as Shadows, by Jill Emerson.)

    • Babe in the Woods (1960) - Block ghostwrote this novel following the death of author William Ard (only Ard is credited)

    • Death Pulls a Doublecross (1961) (reissued as Coward's Kiss)

    • Mona (1961) (reissued as Sweet Slow Death and by Hard Case Crime as Grifter's Game)

    • Markham (1961) (reissued as You Could Call It Murder) - written and published as a tie-in to Markham (TV series)

    • The Girl with the Long Green Heart (1965)

    • Deadly Honeymoon (1967)

    • After the First Death (1969)

    • The Specialists (1969)

    • Ronald Rabbit Is a Dirty Old Man (1971)

    • Ariel (1980)

    • Code of Arms (1981)

    • Into the Night (1987) - Block completed this novel from a manuscript by Cornell Woolrich

    • Random Walk (1988)

    • Small Town (2003)

    • The Girl With the Deep Blue Eyes (2015)

• • a time to scatter stones 9/20

• 1. Short stories[edit]

• • • Some Days You Get the Bear: Collected Stories (1994)

    • Enough Rope: Collected Stories (2002)

    • One Night Stands and Lost Weekends (2009)

    • Dolly's Trash and Treasures (written for audio presentation in The Sounds of Crime) (2010)

    • The Night and the Music (2011)

    • Ehrengraf for the Defense (2012)

    • Catch and Release (2013)

    • I Know How To Pick Em (2013) (Short Story in Anthology: Dangerous Women) (2013)

    • Dark City Lights: New York Stories (2015)^[9]

• • Borderline X

• 1. 13)

If you would like to learn more about this author, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Block