A collection of eighteen new stories by the Edgar Award-winning author offers a darkly comic vision of a world inhabited by drifters, grafters, and assassins. Reprint.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From AudioFile
Suspense writer Lawrence Block doesn't need to use the supernatural to give listeners the creeps. Mortal avarice, desperation and brutishness achieve the same effect in this gleefully misanthropic pulp fiction. Bruce Weitz, who played Belker on TV's "Hill Street Blues," has ghoulish fun with this collection, nicely giving character to the ample dialogue. Despite his adenoidal growl and occasional signs of hasty production, he's surprisingly expressive and easy to listen to. Particularly apt is his tone--as if he's sharing some cosmic dirty joke on the human race with a fellow avenging angel. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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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.
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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Block must have inspired Stephen King,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sometimes They Bite (Paperback)
Stephen King has the knack of turning common occurances intospine chilling stories. However, years before King's storieswere published, Lawrence Block proved his ability to do the same. How diverse to go from a story about two guys fishing peacefully (which results in spine-tingling murder) to an unscruplous lawyer to a burglar to an unwitting hit man finding a new occupation! You'd think Block lived each of these experiences by the way they are described in such vivid detail. No one has led that interesting a life so I'd have to credit these stories to Block's vivid imagination. This book is a must read for all Lawrence Block Fans. If you like this one, you'll also enjoy "Like A Lamb To Slaughter" as well as "Some Days You Get The Bear," both excellent short story collections in their own right.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Single Author Anthologies Out There!,
By
This review is from: Sometimes They Bite (Paperback)
I've read a few of Lawrence Block's novels but haven't widely read his work. Sometimes They Bite is my first encounter with Block as a short story writer and I have to say, he is up there with the greatest writers of the short tale. I'll definitely be checking other anthologies of either his own work or various author collections he has contributed to. Sometimes They Bite is full of ingenious criminals, nasty villains, terrorists, schemers, unexpected plotline twists and just really good stories. Some are a little predictable due to the fact you've been exposed to the twists of former stories and are expecting another, other than that I can't fault this collection.Since Amazon doesn't provide a list of the stories inside here they are - Sometimes They Bite The Ehrengraf Defense Strangers on a Handball Court Like a Dog in the Street A Bad Night For Burglars Nothing Short of Highway Robbery One Thousand Dollars a Word The Gentle Way The Ehrengraf Obligation When This Man Dies Collecting Ackermans The Dettweiler Solution Funny You Should Ask Like a Thief in the Night Going Through The Motions This Crazy Business of Ours And Miles to Go Before I Sleep Out the Window If you like Block's style I'd also recommend checking out the author Donald E. Westlake.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good short story collection,
By
This review is from: Sometimes They Bite (Paperback)
For my money, Stephen King is the best short story writer of the last thirty years. I've never read a short story anthology by any other author to match his "Night Shift," or "Skelton Crew" collections. But Lawrence Block comes close with "Sometimes They Bite." Block may be a crime writer, but some of his stories, like the excellent title story, read similar to King's horror work, especially his non-supernatural horror work. Private Detective Matthew Scudder makes one fine appearance in this collection, as does Bernie Rhodenbarr of Block's "Burglar" series. The rest are a hodgepodge of stories told from the point of view of victims, perpetrators and cops. Some work better than others, of course, but there isn't a dud in the lot.Fans of Lawrence Block should check out this book for a different view of an author who normally produces great novels.
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