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The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams by Lawrence Block
The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams by Lawrence Block
Bernie Rhodenbarr, Lawrence Block's American answer to Raffles, is the best answer ever written. More than an 'answer' though; this single book packs more fun and excitement than Hornung - Raffles' creator - managed to get into his whole series.
You'll be wondering about the title if you're not a baseball buff; even if you are, probably. And that's the only hint you'll get here. One of the pleasures of the book is in finding out what the title's all about. Telling you would be nearly as point-killing as outlining the plot. You have to be there, as they say.
A light and cunning touch, has Mr Block, only to be compared to Wodehouse, I'd say, and him at his best. there's a cat in this book and writing about animals is as tough a skill as acting with them. the dangers are different of course; being upstaged - and/or perhaps savaged - on the film set or the stage; in the case of the writer, falling into cuteness and whimsy. well, PGW could write about animals without a hint of the twee, and so can LB. His hero-narrator, Bernie, is certainly slightly besotted with his cat and just as certainly wouldn't dream of telling us he is.
Block and Bernie are just as sure-footed about the transmission of necessary information to the reader. None of those clumsy wads of facts and statistics which smugly signal 'PAINSTAKING RESEARCH SECTION HERE'. Just titbits of knowledge woven into and integral with the action and dialogue. Fascinating knowledge, too, and almost always surprising.
Those words 'woven' and 'integral' are the key here. Block has got his stuff together is as good a way of putting it as any. This book is so much all of a piece - neat and twisty plot, artful narrative, crisp action, pithy and witty dialogue - that to quote any part of it, or to give even the most general clues about the story would be to plunder the rewards of reading it. In fact, this is so much the case that I wouldn't even dream of telling you so much as the name of the cat...
