Reviews for The good old stuff

The average rating for The good old stuff based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-04-17 00:00:00 Christopher Lawn And that's just what it was, the good old stuff! John D is probably one of the best 20th century writers, his description of ordinary things is just delightful. From sunsets to women's clothing he makes it all come alive. This was 13 short stories and they were all great. I loved that he gave his exact Sarasota home address. I was lucky enough to take a look at it a few years back. My library had a tour of his haunts in Sarasota to honor his 100th birthday. What fun, from The Crescent Club to this beautiful home and lots in between. His Gulf Coast stories are my favorites.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-01-27 00:00:00 Brandie Spoon BOOK 115 - Mid-20th Century North American Crime Readathon -Round 4 "The Homesick Buick" (1950) is the short I've selected. I've read 10 of MacDonald's McGee books, plus a few other novels, but no Macdonald short stories, and nothing from this early in MacDonald's career. HOOK - 2 stars: "To get to Leeman, Texas, you go southwest from Beaumont on Route 90 for approximately thirty miles..." and the direction continue for far 2 long. A second paragraph starts with "On October 3, 1949, a Mr. Stanley Woods arrived by bus..." If it weren't for the intriguing title and the fact that I like this author, I'd have closed the story. PACE - 2 stars: Far too long to get into the mystery. PLOT - 5: There is a bank robbery. The bandits leave the titular "Homesick Buick" behind in the wreckage. And the Buick holds the solution. No, there are no fingerprints to find the villains, no ID, nothing you'd ever think of on your own, and if you're like me, you've read a lot of mysteries. The solution is just beautiful. And this is a case in which the author knows this idea is good for a short story, but much too good to hide within a novel as a plot point. There is a reason Macdonald rose to massive fame, and here it is, in a 1950 short that's plotted perfectly. CHARACTERS/PEOPLE - 4: The villains come and go quickly. The bank employees testify. Special Agent Randolph A Sternweister, in charge of the case, draws a blank. But Pink Dee, a great creation, is a 14 y/o boy "with milk-blue skin, dead-white hair, little reddish eyes, pipe-cleaner bones, narrow forehead" has an IQ off the charts, until his high school test him repeatedly until his teachers get the score they are looking for: 99. And Pink steals the key to the Buick, enters, then solves the problem and hands the solution to Sternweister. Oh, I'd like to read more about Pink. Where is he today? ATMOSPHERE/PLACE - 3: A small town that could be anywhere. But the interest is in how this small town treats their singular genius: they refuse to give the boy the time of day. SUMMARY: 3.2 for an outstanding plot and a stunning solution.