Bob, I was influenced by your enthusiasm for Ross MacDonald's work, and visited the local used bookstore, and came away with six titles!

I began with The Drowning Pool - and couldn't put it down. Somehow, I don't imagine Lew Archer looking like Paul Newman in my head. He's an enigma, and I look forward to learning more about this cool detective.

Thanks Jackie. I guess this discussion has pretty much died out. Like me, the others who posted here seem to have forgotten about the page. Or perhaps they've lost interest in the topic.

It's typical...I join a dead discussion! Oh well, I'm enjoying the discovery of this author. I bought all the titles available at the used book store I frequent - they're a terrific buy at $2.00 per book. The owner asked me, "Do you like MacDonald? I can get more titles from my other store in Hamilton." I told him I'd buy what he had, and last weekend I picked up "Trouble Follows Me", "The Instant Enemy" "The Far Side of the Dollar" and "The Underground Man"

My library is growing, eh?

Just want to mention that Crippen & Landru has published "Strangers in Town", a collection of RM short stories some of which were never previously published for a variety of reasons. The editor is Tom Nolan. He is a Macdonald biographer so he provides a great introduction to the book.

Thanks Bob for the tip - I've checked this title and it's available through Amazon.com.

The reviews for this collection of "lost stories" got good reviews and I am looking forward to reading it!

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Donald Westlake was once asked what he thought about Ross Macdonald and said something like, "He must use a lot of carbon paper" or "He must have excellent carbon paper." (It is an unfair comment, I know.) Can anyone provide an exact reference to where he said it? Thanks!

I found this by Richard Moore and maybe it is the occasion that you refer to:

Donald Westlake gave a talk sponsored by the Smithsonian in Washington in which he said the acclaim for Macdonald was part of a conspiracy by the literary establishment. This talk Westlake later turned into an article for The Armchair Detective which kicked up a fair amount of dust in that he also said the PI novel was basically dead. Westlake's remarks still seemed to me touched by more than a little hyperbole although I agreed with his statement that Macdonald afterwards rewrote the same novel over and over again no matter what anyone said. "Talk about hard-boiled!" Westlake joked.

Hello Fran & all: My memory is a bit fuzzy these days. I seem to remember that in the late 70s or early 80s, there was an NBC series starring Brian Keith, of "Family Affair" fame. Earlier that same year NBC ran a 2-hr pilot movie with Peter Graves as Archer. I tried the series, but thought Keith was miscast in the role. Can anyone help with more specific dates? I'd love to continue this discussion, and look forward to hearing from you. Best always, Chris.