Biography
Lawrence Block was born in Buffalo, New York in 1938. He attended Antioch College in Ohio then went to work in the mailroom of a New York publisher. His first story was published in 1957 and he has gone on to write more than thirty novels and countless stories and articles, not just under his own name but also as Paul Kavanagh. Indeed Lawrence Block has had several pseudonyms having learned his writer's art crafting erotic literature as Andrew Shaw, Sheldon Lord and Jill Emerson!
In 1994 Lawrence Block won the Mystery Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and has also won Edgar, Shamus, and Maltese Falcon awards for his work.
During his prolific writing life Lawrence Block has created several popular yet quite distinct character series. His first popular novels featured Evan Tanner, a veteran of the Korean war who doesn't sleep due to shrapnel lodged in his brain. Then there are the 'Burglar' novels featuring Bernie Rhodenbarr, a sophisticated New York bookstore owner not averse to a little breaking and entering on the side, with a lesbian sidekick who owns a pet grooming business.
In a darker mode Block's Matt Scudder novels feature a recovering alcoholic whose progress and change is charted over several novels, set in an urban landscape marked by dives, late night bars, clubs, lounges, taverns and gin joints. Private investigator Scudder patrols the decaying inner city and endeavours to keep in check his own inner devils. Other central characters include criminal lawyer Martin Ehrengraf who features in his short stories, a sex-mad teenager called Chip Harrison and a hit man named Keller.
For a listing of Block's novels by character and date check out the
Bibliography
Lawrence Block's output has been remarkable but he has still managed to make time to contribute to writing workshops and discussions about the practice of writing fiction:
Writing the Novel : From Plot to Print 1985
Write for Your Life 1986
Telling Lies for Fun & Profit : A Manual for Fiction Writers 1994
Spider, Spin Me a Web : A Handbook for Fiction Writers 1995
After Hours : Conversations With Lawrence Block 1996
Block and the Cinema
Considering the nature and extent of his writing career very little of his work has been adapted for cinema yet. Burglar [video link] directed by Hugh Wilson and starring Whoopie Goldberg as a female version of Bernie Rhodenbarr was apparently based on The Burglar In the Closet and Eight Million Ways To Die, [video link] a Matt Scudder novel was filmed in 1986, directed by Hal Ashby. Hit Man and A Walk Among The Tombstones were optioned in 1998 but no sign of them so far.
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Lawrence Block published by No Exit Press The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian The Burglar Who Liked To Quote Kipling FORTHCOMING TITLES |
If you'd like to email Lawrence Block you can do so on LawBloc@aol.com
Lawrence Block now has his own website up and running at lawrenceblock.com.