The Red Hot Typewriter: The Life and Times of John D. MacDonald

This short biography by the late Merrill (d. 2015), first published in 2000, is the perfect introduction to author John Dann MacDonald (1916%E2%80%931986). A prolific writer of crime fiction, MacDonald was best known for creating salvage expert/beach bum Travis McGee, the hero of 21 novels (The Deep Blue Good-by, etc.) published between 1964 and 1984. After succinctly surveying MacDonald's childhood, education, and marriage, Merrill focuses on his subject's writing career. MacDonald sold his first story while serving as an officer in the U.S. Army in India during WWII. He did his apprenticeship in the pulp magazines after the war, and successfully shifted to paperback originals in the 1950s. His novels eventually appeared in hardcover and hit bestseller lists, and he earned respect from critics both within and outside the genre. Ample quotations from MacDonald's letters, articles, and other nonfiction convey his hard-edged, no-nonsense voice. Anecdotal material lends interest: for example, MacDonald was originally going to give McGee the first name Dallas, but after JFK's assassination, he decided instead on Travis, after the California Air Force base. This reissue includes a new afterword by MacDonald scholar Calvin Branche, a reprint of an interview with MacDonald by crime writer Ed Gorman, and a bibliography. (Aug.)

This review has been corrected. An earlier version listed the higher price of an out-of-print edition of the book.