Rating: 
Summary: One of Leonard's recent best
Review: With Elmore Leonard we get a new book every year or so, and it's a good thing, because even though not every one is a solid success, they are all fun and every now and then a real masterpiece emerges. I believe that Get Shorty is such a success. It's a Cinderella story as if written by Damon Runyan. Chili Palmer, a small time mobster on the trail of a deadbeat who has run off with $300,000 of mob money after faking his own death, finds himself in Hollywood getting involved with movie making instead of recovering the money. On one level the book is pure Leonard an exciting underworld story with great street talk and those edgy characters that he does so well. On another level the book is a wonderful social satire and, with its shift from Vegas to L.A., shows us a contemporary world lost in greed and seduced by show biz. Palmer's easy success as a producer (in essence doing his own life story) is a thinly veiled commentary on the shallowness of Hollywood and the lack of skill of many of its leaders. Not a surprising position for a writer who has seen almost all of his books (till this one) made into truely terrible movies (remember Stick? Mr. Majestek? The Moonshine Wars?).Whatever else, this book is a fast paced and entertaining piece of fiction. The characters are interesting, the dialogue is memorable and funny, and the plot is ingenious and leads to a very satisfactory conclusion. This is Leonard at his best - and that is awfully good. And surprise, this time he even got a good movie out of it!
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