Hello Avians !!
Have you seen this movie ????
Joseph Trifun
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> Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:45:38 -0500
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block-burglar_on_the_prowl.htm
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> Lawrence Block The Burglar on the Prowl Reviewed by
Terry D'Auray
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> From:
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> To:
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> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 8:30 PM
> Subject: Emailing:
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> The Burglar on the Prowl
> Lawrence Block
> William Morrow/Harper Collins
> US Hardcover First
> ISBN: 0-06-019830-3
> Publication Date: March, 2004
> 293 Pages; $24.95
> Date Reviewed: April 12, 2004
> Reviewed by: Terry D'Auray © 2004
>
> REFERENCES
> COLUMNS
>
> Mystery
> 06-14-04
>
>
>
> Wm. Morrow includes a list of Lawrence Block's other
novels in the front of
> his latest "burglar" book; the list fits on a single
page only because it's
> printed in the same small type most often used only
for "fine print"
> contractual details no one wants you to see. Fifteen
Matt Scudder novels,
> masterful, old-school hardboiled detective stories;
eight Evan Tanner
> sleepless spy stories; four Chip Harrison books,
Block's ode to Rex Stout and
> Nero Wolfe; a couple of Keller heartless hit man
novels; and numerous other
> novels, short story collections, anthologies, and
how-to books for writers.
> Oh, and ten, "the burglar who" books, featuring
literate looter Bernie
> Rhodenbarr. The burglar books are Block at play -
playing with language,
> plot, character and credibility in the story telling
and playing with the
> world in general - political, social and literary -
in the wonderfully
> rambling stream of consciousness asides that are
themselves worth the price
> of admission.
>
> If you've never read a burglar book, a little
background is in order. Bernie
> Rhodenbarr is an antiquarian book dealer by day and
a burglar by night. He's
> a man of exceptional taste, erudite, literate,
sociable, voluble and
> exceptionally witty. Thievery is both his innate
natural gift and the
> provider of his adrenaline-fueled natural highs.
Burglary is a pastime he
> pursues with grand skill and only modest regret.
"The fact that I evidently
> can't give it up doesn't mean I'm not well aware of
the disagreeably sordid
> nature of what I do". Well, sordid maybe, but
disagreeable, never. Bernie's
> thefts invariably lead him into unanticipated
situations in which he must
> either solve a crime to save his ass, or solve a
crime to put some other
> bigger, badder ass out of circulation. While
Bernie's a criminal, he's not
> stealing purses from little old ladies. He filches
from felons, or
> felons-in-waiting, and if, as occasionally happens,
he makes a mistake and
> steals something from someone who ultimately doesn't
deserve to have it
> stolen, well, he just puts it back.
>
> In 'The Burglar on the Prowl', Bernie is asked by
his old friend Marty Gilman
> to steal cash from the safe of a New York plastic
surgeon, Crandall Roundtree
> Mapes, most often referred to as That Shitheel. The
motive for Gilman's
> request is simple. That Shitheel has swiped his
mistress and sweet revenge is
> the only salve. Just before taking care of the
Shitheel break-in, Bernie,
> inexplicably antsy, goes on the prowl, breaking into
the apartment of a
> female NY attorney who's awkwardly in the midst of a
date rape. Bernie's
> awkwardly hiding under the bed for that event, and
after the rapist leaves,
> he carefully replaces everything he's just stolen
(except for a bit of cash),
> figuring the woman's had enough bad luck for one
night. Block, making liberal
> use of the "long arm of coincidence", weaves roofies
(the date rape drug),
> Latvia, the Black Scourge of Riga, NY mobsters, LBD
(lesbian bed death), cops
> and other (non-Rhodenbarr) robbers into a wildly
implausible and utterly
> delightful romp.
>
> Block surrounds Bernie with a lively cast of
recurring supporting characters;
> Caroline the loquacious lesbian dog-groomer and
Bernie's best friend; Ray
> Kirshmann, the donut-snarfing not-so-dumb cop, and
Raffles, his bookstore's
> Manx. And as with his other burglar stories, Block
gives the reader not only
> the crime and its solution, but also an extra-credit
smorgasbord of cleverly
> written riffs on this and that. A little history
(Latvia's quest for
> independence), a little architecture (New York's
brownstones), a little
> geography (the Bronx versus Manhattan), riffs on
burglary and riffs on riffs
> themselves. All that, plus the always amusing and
eagerly anticipated spoof
> of another contemporary mystery writer. Here, John
Sanford's the target, with
> his new novel about a guy killing vegetarians called
'Lettuce Prey'. Every
> story is thickly infused with New York since Block's
Rhodenbarr delights in
> the offbeat nooks and crannies ("or crannies and
nooks") of New York, the
> city's eccentric characters, its subways, take-out
deli's and bars.
>
> Block's burglar books zip along with great humor,
clever language ("as
> felonious as a monk") and wild doings wittily
described. He writes playful,
> engaging and enjoyable stories of absolutely no
significance, literary or
> otherwise, whatsoever. But they're frolicking good
fun. Lawrence Block at
> play is a show well worth the price of a
ticket.
>
>
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