In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero

Publishers Weekly

Robert B. Parker, the man widely credited with reviving the hardboiled PI genre, gets the respect he amply deserves in this anthology of 15 essays. Editor Penzler, founder of The Mysterious Press, provides a thoughtful introduction that sets the stage for insights into a wide range of topics, including the role of food in the Spenser books, TV adaptations, and the series' Boston setting. Every piece is worthwhile, but four stand out: In "Songs Spenser Taught Me," Ace Atkins, tapped by the Parker estate to continue the Spenser franchise, movingly conveys how the character changed his life following the loss of his father when Atkins was a sophomore at Auburn University. Loren D. Estleman, whose own Detroit-based PI Amos Walker has had a long and successful run, explains how Parker helped to save "America's place in world literature," while Lyndsay Faye, in "Spenser and the Art of the Family Table," makes use of her own experience working in restaurants to discuss Spenser-as-gourmet and the relationship between care in food preparation and maintaining human relationships. Finally, S.J. Rozan intelligently parses out the debate among fans about the investigator's significant other, Susan Silverman, treating both camps fairly.
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From the Publisher

"Robert B. Parker, the man widely credited with reviving the hardboiled PI genre, gets the respect he amply deserves in this anthology. Editor Penzler . . . provides a thoughtful introduction that sets the stage for insights into a wide range of topics, including the role of food in the Spenser books, TV adaptations, and the series' Boston setting. Every piece is worthwhile."
—Publishers Weekly

"The fourteen essays here examine Spenser’s place in the literary genre and anatomize the aims, techniques, and achievements of his creator . . . Included, too, are commentaries on Spenser’s accepting—but never self-abasing—attitudes toward race and sexuality."
—ForeWord Reviews

"A festschrift in honor of the iconic Parker, who died in 2010 . . . the collection delves into all things Spenser and Parker, with side trips for Parker's westerns and Jesse Stone series. Susan Silverman, Hawk and Boston also get their due."
—Shelf-Awareness.com

"A baker’s dozen of crime and mystery writers—including Loren D. Estleman, Lyndsay Faye, Gary Phillips, Max Allan Collins and S.J. Rozan—who look back on the author’s award-winning body of work, his Boston milieu, his continuing players and any influences his fiction had on their own."
—Kirkus Reviews

“In Pursuit of Spenser is written by fans of Robert Parker for fans of Robert Parker. It’s a fun read that brings back wonderful memories of the man who created Spenser and so many other characters."
—ReviewJournal.com