Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian, The [Import] [Paperback]

Lawrence Block (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: No Exit Press; New Ed edition (1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0948353635
• ISBN-13: 978-0948353635
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,614,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lawrence Block (b. 1938) is the recipient of a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and an internationally renowned bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series as well as dozens of short stories, articles, and books on writing. He has won four Edgar and Shamus Awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of the United Kingdom. In France, he has been awarded the title Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice received the Societe 813 trophy.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Block attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Leaving school before graduation, he moved to New York City, a locale that features prominently in most of his works. His earliest published writing appeared in the 1950s, frequently under pseudonyms, and many of these novels are now considered classics of the pulp fiction genre. During his early writing years, Block also worked in the mailroom of a publishing house and reviewed the submission slush pile for a literary agency. He has cited the latter experience as a valuable lesson for a beginning writer.

Block's first short story, "You Can't Lose," was published in 1957 in Manhunt, the first of dozens of short stories and articles that he would publish over the years in publications including American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and the New York Times. His short fiction has been featured and reprinted in over eleven collections including Enough Rope (2002), which is comprised of eighty-four of his short stories.

In 1966, Block introduced the insomniac protagonist Evan Tanner in the novel The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep. Block's diverse heroes also include the urbane and witty bookseller--and thief-on-the-side--Bernie Rhodenbarr; the gritty recovering alcoholic and private investigator Matthew Scudder; and Chip Harrison, the comical assistant to a private investigator with a Nero Wolfe fixation who appears in No Score, Chip Harrison Scores Again, Make Out with Murder, and The Topless Tulip Caper. Block has also written several short stories and novels featuring Keller, a professional hit man. Block's work is praised for his richly imagined and varied characters and frequent use of humor.

A father of three daughters, Block lives in New York City with his second wife, Lynne. When he isn't touring or attending mystery conventions, he and Lynne are frequent travelers, as members of the Travelers' Century Club for nearly a decade now, and have visited about 150 countries.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bernie Straightens Out the Curves and the Frames, May 10, 2003

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian (Paperback)

Lawrence Block is one of our most talented mystery authors. In the Bernie Rhodenbarr series he explores how an ordinary, but intelligent, "honest" person might go about pursuing a life of crime as a fastidious and talented burglar who isn't proud of what he does, doesn't like to hang out with criminals, and really gets a big thrill out of breaking and entering . . . and removing valuables. As you can see, there's a sitcom set-up to provide lots of humor. But the humor works well in part because Mr. Block is able to put the reader in the Bernie's shoes while he breaks, enters and steals . . . and evades the long arm of the law. To balance the "honest" burglar is an array of "dishonest" and equally easy-money loving cops. As a result, you're in a funny moral never-never land while your stomach tightens and your arm muscles twitch as tension builds. To make matters even more topsy-turvy, Bernie at some point in every story turns into an investigator who must figure out "who-dun-it" for some crime that he personally didn't do. It's almost like one of those "mystery at home" games where the victim comes back as the police investigator, playing two roles. Very nice!

So much for explaining the concept of the series. The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian is the fifth book in the series. I strongly suggest that you begin the series by reading Burglars Can't Be Choosers and follow it up with The Burglar in the Closet, The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza and The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling. Each story in the series adds information and characters in a way that will reduce your pleasure of the others if read out of order. Although, I originally read them out of order and liked them well enough. I'm rereading them now in order, and like it much better this way. The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams comes next in the series.

Book dealer Bernie has been hired by a wealthy collector to come to his apartment to value his book collection. Bernie is happy to do this for two reasons. He gets paid more for his time than he does by selling books in his store, and, more importantly, because it gets him into one of the highest security apartment buildings in New York City at a time when a wealthy stamp collector is away in West Virginia. After the appraisal is completed, Bernie sneaks up the fire exit to burgle another apartment and comes away with some choice and salable items. Just when everything seems perfect, Bernie finds himself inexplicably wanted for murder. Soon every cop in New York is looking for him. Even Ray Kirschmann's paid-for help may not save him this time!

This story has some of the most offbeat and unexpected situations in it of any that I remember in detective fiction. Each element seems to be so outlandish that you cannot help but smile. In essence, the book is a spoof of the whole detective fiction genre, and it works as humor very well. For example, a cat is kidnapped by someone demanding a quarter-million dollar ransom and cat whiskers are delivered to prove that the cat is being held. Bernie meets someone unexpectedly in one of his burglaries and you will be totally amazed by what comes next. Bernie is confronted with three seemingly impossible thefts and his ultimate methods to secure the goods will keep you chuckling for hours. Bernie conferences with his attorney while running up and down hills after his old attorney succumbs in an unusual manner to the Grim Reaper. The complications among lovers, ex-lovers and potential lovers remind me of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Here's the fly in the pigment in this hilarious tale. If you know nothing about art, the story works perfectly and you will remember it for years as one of the best detective books you have read. If you totally suspend your disbelief about art, it also works well. If you know about art and insist on accuracy in details, you will know that the story's resolution does not work. It is full of more holes than most Swiss cheese. If you find yourself in one of the first two categories, you will think of this as a five-star book. If you think of it in the last category, you will think it is hopelessly flawed. My grading reflects a balance between those views. Decide in advance how you want to read the book.

The theme of this book focuses on the seemingly insignificant differences between what is genuine and what is not. Mostly, the differences lie in the mind, rather than in reality. A good question to ask yourself after reading this book is where nongenuine, but well-done, substitutes should be used in preference to what is scarce, expensive and genuine.

Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too complicated, July 14, 2003

By 

Paul Skinner (Manassas, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian (Paperback)

Don't get me wrong. I love the burglar series. But this one was a bit too complicated to enjoy. When I read a Rhodenbarr book, I don't want to have to think too hard, but this one has too many twists and too many paintings to keep track of. The story starts out nice enough, with a kidnapped cat and a ransom call (in a Nazi voice) requesting a Mondrian painting. Unfortunately, the catnapping story loses steam and after awhile, I think Lawrence Block almost forgot it, then suddenly tried to wrap a bow around it. Bernie reveals the twisted details in the end, but he doesn't sufficiently explain how he solves the mystery. He rounds up the suspects into one room for the showdown, and the suspect list includes characters heretofore unseen. I wish all the suspects could have been introduced to the reader before hand, so we had a fighting chance to figure out the mystery ourselves.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like always, funny, interesting read., October 24, 2001

By 

T (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian (Paperback)

While Bernie seems to be in a similar predicament time after time, it never gets dull. And while all of the books I've read so far in the Bernie series are funny, this one seemed to be exceptionally so.