John D. MacDonald was born on this date, July 24, in 1916. I’ve written about him before (see here, here, and here).
Although he’s probably best remembered today as the author of the Travis McGee series of men’s adventure thrillers, MacDonald learned his chops in the pulps, albeit during the tail end of the pulp era.
MacDonald’s work is lean and crisp, whether it’s a Travis McGee novel, a stand-alone thriller, or one of his few (but excellent) science fiction tales. His work is worth seeking out. And while some of the attitudes expressed may seem dated to anyone who thinks literature began sometime after the year 2000, there’s plenty of philosophy integrated into the action to raise his work above that of pulp hackwork. This is literature, and deserves to be kept in print.
I’ve never read any of his stuff. Guess I should at some point.
I think you would like him.
John D. MacDonald was one hell of a writer. In Travis McGee he gave us one of the great American characters. Of his stand alone books, I would particularly recommend “The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything”. You could call it science fiction or fantasy depending on how rigorous you want to be with your definitions. Either way it is a great fun read.
I agree completely. I read the SFBC omnibus of MacDonald’s science fiction novels when I was in high school. It contained The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything. MacDonanld’s science fiction was good. I wish someone would collect he short fiction, both mystery and sf into some nice omnibus collections.