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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m.
@alissadmc.bsky.social
21 followers 47 following 71 posts
she/her | freelance writer | 🏳️‍🌈 | my partner everywhere @lilyslabo.bsky.social our richard stark's parker site: https://toughbusiness.neocities.org/
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · Jul 3
We've got a new interview with Eisner-winning artist @seanphillips.bsky.social over on our website, discussing all things Richard Stark's Parker & sharing an exclusive look at the Grofield story from the second collection of Darwyn Cooke's Parker comics! toughbusiness.neocities.org/seanphillips...
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 1d
a genuine mystery that there's not 1500 little bfi classics type books exploring the blatant homosexual subtext of the world's most homoerotic crime movie. literal masterpiece WOW
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Reposted by alissa m.
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 1d
my lady and i watched jacques deray’s borsalino today. holy mother of god gay cinema… despite our best efforts we couldn’t find anyone talking about the homoeroticism in any real capacity which is baffling to be honest. other than that we found it to be wildly entertaining. five stars
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 2d
😃
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lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 2d
We just posted a collection of New York Times reviews of Richard Stark’s Parker on our site, with an intro by @alissadmc.bsky.social! You might recognize some of them from blurbs on the covers of various Parker editions.

Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/nytreviews
If you've glanced at the back cover of just about any edition of Richard Stark's Parker novels, you've probably seen the high praise from Allen J. Hubin of The New York Times, and a description that goes something like this: "the ruthless, unrepentant, singleminded operator in a humorless and amoral world." Or, maybe, the praise came from Anthony Boucher, and sounded a little like this: "nobody tops Stark in his portrayal of a world of total amorality." Regardless of the exact wording, these reviews have been a mainstay of covers and dust jackets for decades. But where exactly do they come from? They've rarely been properly credited, and have almost never had a date attached to them beyond the nebulous attribution to The New York Times. As it happens, Richard Stark was one of the usual suspects in the NYTs 'Criminals at Large' column - a weekly review of the latest crime fiction books - for years. Between 1963 and 1974, thirteen out of the original twenty novels were reviewed; favorably, as was the rest of Westlake's work, right up until the final quartet of books in the series. In fact, it was in this very column that Anthony Boucher first revealed Richard Stark's identity as Donald Westlake. Sometimes it is impossible to keep a secret. I find no harm in revealing the alternate identities of Donald E. Westlake, even though I originally learned them under a seal of confidence. You see, Mr. Westlake was, apparently, completely honest in filling out his copyright forms; and his aliases are so familiar to the Library of Congress, and through its cards to librarians everywhere, that my conscientious efforts to preserve secrecy appear to some readers (who of course write in) as simple ignorance. So let me be, perhaps, the last to inform you that Donald E. Westlake is also Richard Stark, who writes about the hard-nosed professional criminal Parker, and Tucker Coe, who writes about Mitch Tobin, ex-N.Y.P.D. Since Westlake is three of my favorite contemporary suspense novelists, you can see why I welcome the first volume of his collected short stories. THE CURIOUS FACTS PRECEDING MY EXECUTION AND OTHER FICTIONS (Random, $4.50).
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Reposted by alissa m.
priscillapage.bsky.social
priscilla page @priscillapage.bsky.social · 6d
a terrific interview with Shane Black about Play Dirty from preeminent Richard Stark/Donald Westlake/Parker scholars @alissadmc.bsky.social & @lilyslabo.bsky.social
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 6d
We have another exciting and exclusive interview up on Tough Business— this time with acclaimed director Shane Black! @alissadmc.bsky.social and I sat down to chat with him about Play Dirty and his thoughts on Westlake’s work.

Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/shaneblackin...
"We don't compromise Parker's code" - An Exclusive Interview with Shane Black A week after the highly-anticipated release of Play Dirty, Tough Business had the pleasure of sitting down for a chat on all things Parker with acclaimed director Shane Black. Best known for neo-noir hits like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys, Shane spoke about his new film, his thoughts on Parker and Grofield's dynamic, and a glimpse behind-the-scenes of this latest Richard Stark adaptation. TB: You've talked about discovering Parker at a young age, but what drew you to the books? Do they still hold the same appeal years later? SB: That's a good question. Thave encountered Parker at various points in my life, and also not just him but the Dortmunder books as well - and the standalones. Westlake tended to be a writer of comic caper novels. My first introduction was The Hot Rock, and then I moved on to Parker. Like I said, I went through the years with him, and the novels don't lose anything at all. They have this sort of readability about them, and the fact that they're each sort of little gems; they're not huge novels, even Butcher's Moon slides past. The prose holds up, the attitude holds up. These evolved over the years - the first one was written when there were rotary telephones and the last was written when there were handheld Samsungs - so along the way, he managed to proceed with this character without compromising even an iota of the punch and the style and the grace of the books. I refer to Westlake as the mystery writers' mystery writer. It seems to me that if you would ask any of the ones in the business who sold more books than him, they'd say, “yeah, well, he's still the guy that takes you to school, he's still the guy that I go back to when I want the real stuff."
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 6d
I can barely believe it. What an honor!
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 6d
Special thanks to @priscillapage.bsky.social - we truly appreciate all your help!
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 6d
We have another exciting and exclusive interview up on Tough Business— this time with acclaimed director Shane Black! @alissadmc.bsky.social and I sat down to chat with him about Play Dirty and his thoughts on Westlake’s work.

Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/shaneblackin...
"We don't compromise Parker's code" - An Exclusive Interview with Shane Black A week after the highly-anticipated release of Play Dirty, Tough Business had the pleasure of sitting down for a chat on all things Parker with acclaimed director Shane Black. Best known for neo-noir hits like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys, Shane spoke about his new film, his thoughts on Parker and Grofield's dynamic, and a glimpse behind-the-scenes of this latest Richard Stark adaptation. TB: You've talked about discovering Parker at a young age, but what drew you to the books? Do they still hold the same appeal years later? SB: That's a good question. Thave encountered Parker at various points in my life, and also not just him but the Dortmunder books as well - and the standalones. Westlake tended to be a writer of comic caper novels. My first introduction was The Hot Rock, and then I moved on to Parker. Like I said, I went through the years with him, and the novels don't lose anything at all. They have this sort of readability about them, and the fact that they're each sort of little gems; they're not huge novels, even Butcher's Moon slides past. The prose holds up, the attitude holds up. These evolved over the years - the first one was written when there were rotary telephones and the last was written when there were handheld Samsungs - so along the way, he managed to proceed with this character without compromising even an iota of the punch and the style and the grace of the books. I refer to Westlake as the mystery writers' mystery writer. It seems to me that if you would ask any of the ones in the business who sold more books than him, they'd say, “yeah, well, he's still the guy that takes you to school, he's still the guy that I go back to when I want the real stuff."
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Reposted by alissa m.
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 6d
We have another exciting and exclusive interview up on Tough Business— this time with acclaimed director Shane Black! @alissadmc.bsky.social and I sat down to chat with him about Play Dirty and his thoughts on Westlake’s work.

Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/shaneblackin...
"We don't compromise Parker's code" - An Exclusive Interview with Shane Black A week after the highly-anticipated release of Play Dirty, Tough Business had the pleasure of sitting down for a chat on all things Parker with acclaimed director Shane Black. Best known for neo-noir hits like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys, Shane spoke about his new film, his thoughts on Parker and Grofield's dynamic, and a glimpse behind-the-scenes of this latest Richard Stark adaptation. TB: You've talked about discovering Parker at a young age, but what drew you to the books? Do they still hold the same appeal years later? SB: That's a good question. Thave encountered Parker at various points in my life, and also not just him but the Dortmunder books as well - and the standalones. Westlake tended to be a writer of comic caper novels. My first introduction was The Hot Rock, and then I moved on to Parker. Like I said, I went through the years with him, and the novels don't lose anything at all. They have this sort of readability about them, and the fact that they're each sort of little gems; they're not huge novels, even Butcher's Moon slides past. The prose holds up, the attitude holds up. These evolved over the years - the first one was written when there were rotary telephones and the last was written when there were handheld Samsungs - so along the way, he managed to proceed with this character without compromising even an iota of the punch and the style and the grace of the books. I refer to Westlake as the mystery writers' mystery writer. It seems to me that if you would ask any of the ones in the business who sold more books than him, they'd say, “yeah, well, he's still the guy that takes you to school, he's still the guy that I go back to when I want the real stuff."
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Reposted by alissa m.
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 8d
We just posted our review of Shane Black’s Play Dirty on our site! Co-written by @alissadmc.bsky.social, we discuss what worked for us as Parker fans and make a few comparisons to the novels.

Check it out here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/playdirtyrev...
Review titled Play Dirty: A Love Letter to the Richard Stark Novels
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 10d
me JK
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 12d
my dearest p...
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lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 12d
we'll get around to writing a play dirty review eventually but in the meantime im still thinking about lakeith's amazingly girlish grofield scream before getting hit by a truck. that's not really a spoiler he's ok
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 13d
Lots of exciting things coming up soon over on Tough Business but my god, Play Dirty was a dream come true!
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 13d
play dirty was all we dreamed of and more by the way. our beautiful grofield…
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lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 13d
play dirty was all we dreamed of and more by the way. our beautiful grofield…
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 18d
Sources continued here
Discussing the Parker hiatus in The Getaway Car nonfiction book Discussing the Parker hiatus in The Getaway Car nonfiction book
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 18d
That's patently incorrect info. While that's an oft repeated anecdote, it's never once been mentioned as the cause of the hiatus, see the attached quotes w/ source in the alt text. Of course, the second wave of novels sadly ended when Mr. Westlake passed.
From the NPR tribute to Donald Westlake. From Brian Garfield's intro to the 1981 Gregg Press edition of The Outfit From the AV Club interview with Donald Westlake Discussing the Parker hiatus in The Getaway Car nonfiction book
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lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 19d
by the way, you can see an array of wonderful international parker covers on our website here: toughbusiness.neocities.org/reviews
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 19d
"knock on wood, grofield" (or rather the italian equivalent) is an all time title for lemons never lie and could stand to be a subtitle for his entire solo series. impeccable work, he's my favorite damsel in distress
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lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 19d
the artist for the italian il giallo mondadori covers, carlo jacono, also adheres to the blonde grofield belief system like i do, despite him technically canonically having dark hair and green eyes
Lemons Never Lie Italian cover
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lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 19d
sometimes it appears that parker is on a grofield cover and vice versa. that’s fine!
The Dame Italian cover The Seventh Italian cover
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Reposted by alissa m.
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 19d
showing some appreciation for various international parker covers by picking out some with depictions i feel look the most like him. titles in alt
The Score Italian cover Deadly Edge Swedish cover The Man with the Getaway Face Swedish cover The Hunter Finnish cover
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 20d
Always a pleasure to work with my favorite artist in the world/ideal partner @lilyslabo.bsky.social - I'm permanently amazed by the quality of your work, the pulpy tone and the subtext brought out into the open and the delicious layered approach to our little story. Couldn't be prouder!
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 20d
got our zines in the mail today, written by my love @alissadmc.bsky.social

and you can read it here! archive.org/details/fort...
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Reposted by alissa m.
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 20d
got our zines in the mail today, written by my love @alissadmc.bsky.social

and you can read it here! archive.org/details/fort...
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Reposted by alissa m.
lilyslabo.bsky.social
shay d. @lilyslabo.bsky.social · 22d
as one half of tough business and as someone who generally really likes lee marvin, this is the kind of performance we should’ve had happening in point blank but unfortunately he was nearly unconscious the entire time
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alissadmc.bsky.social
alissa m. @alissadmc.bsky.social · 22d
and it's a parker film at heart. on top of everything else
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