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Title: The Deep Blue Good-By by John D. MacDonald ISBN: 0449223833 Publisher: Gold Medal Pub. Date: 1995 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6
Rating: 4
Summary: The beginning of a fruitful series
Comment: I love these books. Travis McGee is one of all-time great fictional wise guys. He's witty, and pretty resourceful. The Florida setting makes a great backdrop and the books are full of action. The McGee brand of private eye was a masterstroke on the part of MacDonald. McGee is just a seemingly innocent beach bum that makes his money stealing money from those who have previously stolen it from someone else.
In this opening book of the series, McGee takes on an ex-con that stole some goods belonging to a friend of a friend of McGee's. That's all you need to know of the plot. The real enjoyment of these books are the journeys McGee travels.
There's a funny stream of misogyny that runs through this series that I have to comment on. McGee's exploits with women are much in the vein of James Bond, but MacDonald, I think, seems uncomfortable with the fact, because McGee is always rationalizing his behavior and the author's sympathies seem to be with him. One way or another, McGee always has some deeper reason as to why his constant use of various women is actually doing them a whole lot of good. Travis McGee is the sensitive womanizer. Now, I've never met such a person, but if one existed, I think that he'd spend the majority of his time on the analysts couch. This is just the first book, but when you're ten or twelve deep into the series, you'll no doubt laugh as McGee says something like, "All the women mean something" after one dies the sudden, yet requisite, death.
Anyway, these books are fun and their goal is to entertain, and they do just that. If you read one or two, there is a good chance you'll read all of them sooner or later. I usually take one on vacation.
Rating: 5
Summary: McGee makes colorful debut!
Comment: "Home is the 'Busted Flush,' 52-foot barge-type houseboat, Slip F-18, Bahia Mar, Lauderdale."
Is there any address in American literature so readily identified? Probably not. It's the home of Travis McGee, "knight in tarnished armor," and central character of the over-20 volumed series by John D. MacDonald.
With quite a following of readers around the world (my first McGee was while vacationing in Torremolinas years ago and needing something to read while soaking up the Spanish sunshine and absorbing the sangria deliciosa!), MacDonald's hero, along with his sometimes bizarre assortment of friends, enemies, and hangers-on, goes from one adventure to another. Each of the McGee books contains a color in the title, easily recognizable. And it's not purple prose either! MacDonald, a best-selling novelist for years, has more than just a storyline to carry his books. Certainly, McGee is his principal concern. He's "retired" most of the time--he only goes back to work when he sees he's running out of money. He'd rather stay aboard his houseboat and entertain his friends that work. He claims he's taking his retirement one day at a time!
"The Deep Blue Good-by" is the first in this series, published in 1964. It is amazing, too, that in reading it here in the year 2000, the book still stands as relevant now as it was then. McGee, as usual, finds himself befriending and then helping out Cathy Kerr, who has come to him in desperation. Her misfortune has been to meet up with Junior Allen, "a smiling, freckle-face stranger" with depravity on his mind and a more odious person you don't want to meet. There is also something about missing inheritance. McGee is unable to resist and from the moment he accepts the challenge, the reader is glued to the pages.
MacDonald's style is terse (some would say Hemingwayesque--one of MacDonald's favorite writes, incidentally) and moves rapidly, a pace easy to keep up with but one that if you blink, you might miss something. But who wants to blink when MacDonald is on a McGee crusade! The author's knack for piercing characterization, his ability to capture the landscape and atmosphere of "Lauderdamndale," and his penchant for a good story make this first episode one not to be missed. True, the McGee books ordinarily don't have to be read in sequence, it's still a good idea. Over the course of the series, naturally, an affinity toward complete understanding of Travis, and his good friend Meyer, keeps readers truly involved.
"The Deep Blue Good-by" is a "hello" to a great series!
Rating: 5
Summary: An Appetite Whetter
Comment: This is the first of the Travis McGee books and quickly establishes why they have been so popular for so long. From the opening page the atmosphere is totally relaxed as we are welcomed aboard Travis' houseboat, The Busted Flush. Travis works only when he has to, which means, just before he runs out of money. The rest of the time he spends lazing around the Florida waters, living the good life.
He is coaxed into action by the bad-luck story of a friend of a friend and quickly and professionally gets to work coming to her rescue. On the way, he acts as a knight in shining armour to a second woman who desperately needs help, going above and beyond the call of duty, firmly entrenching him as a helluva nice guy.
This book was written almost 30 years ago, yet it is fresh enough to make one believe that it is set in today's world. It's an excellent introduction to the world of Travis McGee and has certainly whetted my appetite for more. Travis McGee is the ultimate laid back hero who carries his flaws as humbly as his talents.
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Title: Nightmare in Pink by John D. MacDonald ISBN: 0449224147 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Purple Place for Dying by John D. MacDonald ISBN: 0449224384 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 1995 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: A Deadly Shade of Gold by John D. MacDonald ISBN: 0449224422 Publisher: Gold Medal Pub. Date: 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Quick Red Fox by John D. MacDonald ISBN: 0449224406 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 1995 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald ISBN: 0449224449 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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