Customer Reviews

The Robert B. Parker Companion

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I love Robert B. Parker's books, and was looking forward to this "complete guide"--the contents sounded great. What a disappointment it turned out to be! The "comprehensive biography" of Parker is only 2 pages long. That's not my idea of comprehensive. The "exclusive and insightful" interview is only 5 pages long--and not very insightful. The "cast of characters" is just a 116 page list of names. Here are 2 examples "Walker, Judy.(Potshot) Ex-wife of Dean Walker"; and "Fenton.(Perchance to Dream) A Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander." I didn't find it interesting or useful. The whole book is only 206 pages. In my opinion, the 116 pages wasted on the list would have been better used for detailed information on the main characters (Spenser, Hawk, Sunny, Jesse, etc). Another 31 pages are taken up with an alphabetcal list of places where things have occurred. For example,"Bow Lake, The Site of Evan Malone's cabin in Back Story." The plot summaries are not as informative as those you can get for free here on Amazon. The 2 page summary of "Spenser on film" was very superficial. Where are the titles, air dates, cast lists, etc??? Not here. I did like the 5 pages of quotes--but that's about it.

Before you buy this Robert B. Parker Companion, my advice is to go into your local bookstore and find a copy on the shelf. Skim through the book and see if it's worth paying full price for.

This rather slim volume simply isn't worth the money, in my opinion. The biography/interview with Parker is brief (you can read the whole thing in less than a few minutes) and far inferior to what you can find on the internet for free. The outlines of the books and characters are pretty skimpy and uninteresting. If you're a hard-core fan, this book may be worth purchasing, but I think for the rest of us, it's just not a good investment. Again, there are fan websites that provide a lot of this information at no cost.

I'm a big fan of Robert B. Parker, but I was disappointed by this book, which looked like a rush job. Parker deserves a better book that surveys his body of work.

The somewhat sloppy copy editing gives me pause, as well. Here's an example, on pg 69 we find: "Cooper, Bob. (Bad Business) The CEO of Kinergy..." Then, on pg 70 an entry reads: "Cooper, Wilma. (Bad Business) Wife of Ben Cooper..."

Trivial error? Sure... Ben, Bob, what difference does it make? But what other trivial errors are in the book that I didn't catch? Then too, it occurs to me that for the U$14 cover price, I shouldn't have to do Berkeley Publishing's job for them.

And don't you dare call me "Bob!"

Long on lists and short on meaningful commentary. I wasn't planning on learning the names of all of the people in Parker's various books, yet there are 116 pages devoted to exactly that. The character sketches trivialize the maturation of the main characters through the long writing history of Robert Parker, and much more could have been done, for example, with the growth of Hawk as a significant element of Spenser's life - book by book.

If you must buy this book, I recommend getting a used copy, they are going for as little as $1.13 plus shipping as of this writing.

Disappointed. Just facts in a dry format. I was expecting more of an in depth relationship analysis between the characters, events, etc.

I love Parker's books, and was expecting this to be as exciting as his novels. Can't say it was, but the history about the author and his ideas for his books was worth reading.

For the novice reader or latecomer to author Robert Parker, this companion book is a good place to start reading his novels in order rather than the book by book search(copyright year), used bookstore hunts and the impersonal chain bookstore(which is missing the key book!).

The Robert B Parker Companion is all I hoped it would be. It is very informative for all of us Parker fans and is a must for those of us either building a Parker library or just keeping the books in chronological order. The authors' interview with Parker is an added attraction.

A typical companion book, just synopsis of his books, a little bio on Parker. An ok book if you want to use if for a reference.

This is an excellent resource for avid fans of Parker. It outlines his books, gives information about his personal life, and is very readable. I recommend it.