Whether it’s the famous “spanking” scene, or Mike Hammer’s virulent anti-Communist diatribes or the muscular prose of this relentless novel, One Lonely Night is a book that doesn’t deserve to be forgotten. Mickey Spillane was once the best selling writer in the United States. Today, a few of my students might remember Spillane from the series of Miller Lite beer commercials he performed in, but none of them would know his writings. From I, the Jury to Tomorrow I Die Spilane’s output was impressive. “I’m the most translated writer in the world, behind Lenin, Tolstoy, Gorki and Jules Verne. And they’re all dead…” Spillane once quipped. Sadly, after his death, Spillane’s work receded into obscurity. But it’s worth seeking out One Lonely Night if you haven’t read it to see why millions once read Mickey Spillane.
I doubt if anyone could forget the opening pages of this one.
Moody and violent and unforgettable. That’s how I would describe the opening pages of ONE LONELY NIGHT, Jerry. And that mix carries through to the last page of the novel.
I’ve never read one. I think the man himself put me off. His personality convinced me I wouldn’t like his books. Have to try one.
Spillane’s public persona put a lot of people off, Patti. But his early books are classics.
Patti, you’d have liked Spillane a lot if you’d met him, I’ll bet.
You’re right, Bill. People still talk about Spillane’s openness at the BOUCHERCON he attended.
Hot chick in bondage hanging from ceiling, guns, guy wearing a trench coat and fedora, a filthy dark room–I’ve had first dates just like this picture.
You live a colorful life, Drongo!
Spillane wrote a YA novel, THE DAY THE SEA ROLLED BACK. It was pretty decent entertainment for a kid. I have ONE LONELY NIGHT, one of those books I keep meaning to read…
Spillane was a talented writer who tried writing in other genres, Drongo. He worked in the comic book industry for years. You could read ONE LONELY NIGHT in an hour or so. It moves fast.
A Classic. OLN should be there next to Hammett’s and Chandler’s works
The ending of I, THE JURY certainly ranks up there with the best of Hammett and Chandler, Bill.
I’ve read Spillane, but not this one. I made the mistake of reading three in a row, I, THE JURY the middle of them, and I was burned out on him. That didn’t happen when I read Hammett, nor Chandler. I met Spillane at LesserCon and he was nice enough, though a bit rushed as there were many people in line wanting a signature, autograph or quick handshake. (I got he latter).
George it’s a shame it’s the ending of I, THE JURY everyone talks about. The rest of the book – well, some of the segments, certainly, isn’t bad and does carry the reader along. There’s more to it than the surprise ending. Except for that ending, I’m not sure ITJ would be the Spillane book most people remember.
When I was a kid and read I, THE JURY the ending blew me away, Rick. I think most readers have that reaction. Spillane claimed he wrote the last chapter of his books first. He had to know the final line of I, THE JURY would be incendiary.
Drongo, great line! I have to assume that first date was when you were about… a freshman in college? Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh. Now tell us about the time they tied both you and the hot chick up and put the pair of you in the trunk of the car.
That trunk description sounds like a scene from OUT OF SIGHT with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, Rick.
Rick, what happens in Poughkeepsie, stays in Poughkeepsie.
I think I would’ve liked Spillane the man, who always comes across pretty well in interviews and the memoirs about him, than I do Spillane the novelist or fictioneer. The next best-selling crime fiction guy to really get going around the turn of the ’50s, John D. MacDonald (even if he didn’t outstrip Prather, et al. without question till the latter ’60s or early ’70s in cumulative sales) was more my speed…even if I could appreciate the pace of Spillane’s work. And Fritz Leiber’s and Jean Kerr’s parodies, which I read well before I read any Spillane proper, but I knew exactly what they were about…a small measure of his impact on the culture.
A unique style is easy to parody, Todd. Spillane’s style generated plenty of imitators. The problem is that both Spillane’s style and material went out of fashion. By 2000, most of his work was out-of-print. Where Hammett and Chandler’s work has held up, Spillane’s work shows the ravages of Time.
Or, even, “better than I do…”
I just remember him seeming like a thug. Maybe that was someone playing him on TV though. If I were going to read one book of his, which would it be?
It all began with I, THE JURY, Patti. It’s a classic. But if I were you, I’d read ONE LONELY NIGHT. I consider it Spillane’s best book. And the Communist aspect is compelling.
Patti – I have my opinion, but I’ll let George answer that one.
I’d be interested in your opinion, Rick. My suggestion for Patti is ONE LONELY NIGHT.
OLN is Spillane’s masterpiece
Bill Khemski
You and I are on the same page, Bill.
I probably would have suggested THE BIG KILL, or possibly VENGEANCE IS MINE, since those are the other two Mike Hammer novels I’ve read. I have a hard time recommending anything I haven’t read unless I say it’s based on reviews or the opinion of others. I haven’t read OLN.
You’ll like ONE LONELY NIGHT, Rick. A lot.
I, The Jury is a fine novel and gets a lot of attention because it was the first Hammer novel, but OLN is Spillane’s masterpiece!
I with you that OLN is Spillane’s best book, Bill.
Patti, if you have the sense of thuggishness about him, rather than bluffness, it might be that you saw his performance as Hammer in the underwhelming film version of THE GIRL HUNTERS sometime over the decades.
Kerr and Leiber weren’t just mocking the style, but the tropes. Not the most enlightened views of much of anything were put forth in the Hammer novels, and a lot of it was tapping into as much Raw Id as possible. Hence both their power, when it works, and their acceptability to mass audiences, who could treat it as a Guilty Pleasure if it bothered them how much they enjoyed it otherwise. I forget what Kerr’s was titled (but I do clearly remember that the romantic interest orders “straight Clorox” at the bar, then turns to Hammer: “I’m clean inside, Mike.”), but Leiber’s was “The Night He Cried” and was an all-out mockery of the Spillane put forth through the Hammer novels.
It was William Nolan whom I first read making the observation, in THE BLACK MASK BOYS, that Spillane was clearly the heir to Carroll John Daly, except with a less clunky prose style and a lack of restraint about sexuality, all of which made Daly, in comparison, seem as out of date in Spillane’s heyday as you, George, posit Spilane is now. Otherwise, the self-righteous tough-guy vigilante, shooting first and not bothering much with questions, and other tendencies were rather similar. Andrew Vacchs might be the closest thing to Spillane on the contemporary scene.
You’re right about Andrew Vachss working the same side of the street that Spillane worked, Todd. Vachss picked the child abuse alley while Spillane picked the anti-Communist alley in ONE LONELY NIGHT, but they use the same methods to get the job done.
Good discussion. I haven’t forgotten any of the Mike Hammers I’ve read, and I think I’ve read them all. Also read a few Tiger Mann books and some one offs. The Hammers remain his best work, though.
You’re right about the Mike Hammer series being Spillane’s best work, Bob. And, despite their flaws, I have vivid memories of each book, too.
For the record, Mickey’s first six Hammer novels have not gone out of print — they are collected in two omnibuses from Penguin, and a third such collection will come out next year (the next three Hammers). His posthumous DEAD STREET was published by Hard Case and got wonderful reviews (a rave in Entertainment Weekly) and sold well; and the first of at least three new Hammers, THE GOLIATH BONE, got a lot of attention last year and also sold well (it’s in trade paperback now). The new Hammers are unfinished manuscripts from Mickey’s files that I am completing. The next one, THE BIG BANG, completes a 1964 manuscript and will be out next Spring. This December, an audio book I wrote from a Mickey short story — starring the most famous TV Hammer, Stacy Keach, with a full cast — will be out from Blackstone (THE NEW ADVENTURES OF MIKE HAMMER: THE LITTLE DEATH). Penguin just did a deal for Mickey’s backlist, foreign sales are booming, and I am negotiating to do adaptations of the original Hammer novels (leading with ONE LONELY NIGHT) for one of the major comics companies. The Strand published a Hammer short story (developed from a partial first chapter) that has already been reprinted in the UK. So this notion of Mickey being forgotten, out of style, etc., is in the same category as the initial reports of Mark Twain’s death.
Thanks for the Spillane update, Max! I should have gotten all this good news from you at BOUCHERCON, but you were always surrounded by adoring fans. I can’t think of a better narrator for a Spillane/Collins audio book than Stacy Keach.