By: Elmore Leonard Publisher: HarperTorch Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 384 Publication Date: June 01, 2002 Release Date: June 04, 2002 Studio: HarperTorch
Amazon.com Review: Nobody writes openings like Elmore Leonard. Case in point: "When Chili first came to Miami Beach twelve years ago they were having one of their off-and-on cold winters: thirty-four degrees the day he met Tommy Carlo for lunch at Vesuvio's on South Collins and had his leather jacket ripped off." You need to know about this because you need to know why there's bad blood between Chili Palmer and Ray Bones, the guy who stole his coat and is now his boss--and has ordered him to collect $4,200 from a dead guy. Except the guy didn't die; he went to Las Vegas with $300,000. So Chili goes to Las Vegas, one thing leads to another, and pretty soon he's in Los Angeles, hanging out with a movie producer named Harry Zimm and learning what it takes to be a player in Hollywood.
Get Shorty is classic Elmore Leonard: While other people write "crime fiction," Leonard's come up with a masterful social comedy that happens to be about criminals (and other fast operators). He's a master of snappy dialogue and dizzying plot twists. The best parts of Get Shorty move along so briskly you almost forget there's somebody with a firm control over the story. And you'll be rooting for Chili to get the money, the girl, and the studio deal. --Ron Hogan
Product Description:
Mob-connected loanshark Chili Palmer is sick of the Miami grind -- plus his "friends" have a bad habit of dying there. So when he chases a deadbeat client out to Hollywood, Chili figures he might like to stay. This town with its dreammakers, glitter, hucksters, and liars -- plus gorgeous, partially clad would -be starlets everywhere you look -- seems ideal for an enterprising criminal with a taste for the cinematic. Besides, Chili's got an idea for a killer movie -- thought it could very possibly kill him to get it made.
Great characters in the Damon Runyon tradition ^ Another reviewer pointed out the Damon Runyon influence and it definitely is there and is indeed an enhancement to this classic crime novel. The small time loan shark, Chili Palmer is the principle character here and he well carries the story, yet is ably assisted by other indelible players such as horror film producer Harry Zimm, superstar actor Michael Weir, former scream queen Karen Flores, wise guy RayBones, and "investor Bo Catlett who's willing to kill if necessary in order to protect his investments. The author's knack for snappy dialogue and profound insight of what makes both major and minor hustlers tick bring these people to life and enables each to impact the plot which strongly affected by each individual's actions. And each of these characters each act and interact in front of a finely tuned Hollywood background which is as skillfully painted as Elmore Leonard's portraits of such cities as Detroit, Miami, Atlantic City, New Orleans, etc. If you're totally unfamiliar with Leonard, this is a great starting point, and if you have already discovered him, this is a must read to experience him in top form.
One more to my Elmore Leonard collection. ^ I am a huge fan of Elmore Leonard and have wanted to read this book for ages, since I've watched the movie a couple of times. Love it, absolutely love it and highly recommend.
Waste of time ^ "Get Shorty" is one of the worst books I've read. No suspense, no excitement, boring dialogue, uninteresting characters. I felt profound disappointment at having wasted my time reading it.
Taking Lives And Meetings In La-La Land ^ 1990's "Get Shorty" is half Hollywood parody, half crime thriller in the usual Elmore Leonard vein. Ironically, while the famous movie adaptation got the crime story right somewhat at the expense of the show-biz angle, Leonard's book shines brightest when he's taking on movie making.
Chili Palmer is a self-described shylock who chases a debt runner from Miami to Los Angeles, just a few steps ahead of a dangerous mobster still sore at Chili for punching him out over a stolen coat years ago. There Chili falls in with schlock-making producer Harry Zimm and Harry's ex, scream queen Karen Flores. The three find themselves with a hot property they want to produce into a film, if only they can get star actor Michael Weir, short in size but long in stature, to play the lead.
The first time I read "Get Shorty", it seemed unusually confusing for a Leonard book, very non-linear in the way it unfolds. Reading it again, after having seen the movie, sorted a lot out. The maze-like storyline zags along nicely, the zingers are funnier, and the trademark Leonard voice really comes through.
"I'll make you a deal," Palmer tells one goon who's leaning on Harry for a piece of his dream project. "If you can get out of here before I take my coat off, I won't clean the floor with you, get your yacht-club outfit all messed up."
It's the Hollywood angle that really shines here, Leonard no doubt returning some favors. Weir, when we meet him, turns out to be a typically self-centered product of a culture whose main export is narcissism. At one point, an agent notes Weir is a notoriously risky casting choice because of his propensity for backing up on his commitments.
"I love him, but he's worse than Hoffman and Redford put together," she says.
Sure, the only shooting movie people do is with cameras and paint guns. Still, characters like Michael's agent are plenty ruthless, plotting the destruction of entire careers over lunch simply so their star can have a fresh script to toss away next week.
Another nice aspect to the book is the way it plays to the make-believe nature of the business in its very plot. Reality becomes a flexible thing in "Get Shorty", and in both directions, people talking about how to fix the ending of the movie idea they have even as they consciously relate that idea to the life they are living.
"Get Shorty's" main weakness is an underdone crime story, revolving around a bag inside an airport locker that's a MacGuffin for some backstabbing and bloodshed. The movie made this work by playing more for laughs. The book's version is funny, too, just not as much, with Chili a harder guy than the movie version.
What isn't a problem is Leonard's slightly gonzo take on Hollywood culture, a dream factory that mutates into something surreal and vindictive while remaining gaudy and bright. It's not a bad place to make a living, in the end. Just watch your head.
Too Hollywood for me ^ Get Shorty Maybe it was the movie? The bad guy gets the movie star and goes straight in a crooked way? Unexpected moves and plot twists that are poetic justice make this novel very strange, yet likable. Elmore Leonard is a plot master who seems to have humor and understand hard characters and hard ways. Most people don't like wise guys ( but love their style?) and we almost like Chilli Palmer by the end, but compared to earlier work this comes up shorty.
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