Richard Coomber asked about the literary device in which two
pseudonyms of the same person collaborate on a book. Well,
there was Jimmy the Kid by Donald Westlake. The Dortmunder
gang bases a kidnapping on an otherwise unpublished Richard
Stark Parker caper. The book alternates chapters between
Parker's professionalism and the Dortmunder's
screw-ups.
SPOILER: The kidnap victim escapes with the ransom money
which he uses to finance a movie about his experience. The
book ends with a letter from Richard Stark's lawyer saying he
can't sue the moviemaker for stealing his plot because,
although the kidnappers may have infringed upon his
copyright, the moviemaker's film was based on his real life
experience.
There are also numerous collaborations between two mystery
writers handing a story off between them -- Stephen
Marlowe/Prather and several Nameless books -- but that's not
quite the same.
Mark
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