I was watching an interview of Anna Quindlen on MSNBC when the interviewer asked Anna what she’s reading. “I love p. g. sturges,” Anna said. I had heard of p.g. sturges–in fact I had one of his books. So I sat down and read it. Then I ordered the other two books p. j. sturges had written. If you put Elmore Leonard and Hunter Thompson in a blender, you’d get p. g. sturges. Sturges writes about a former Los Angeles cop named Dick Henry, but everyone calls him the Shortcut Man. Have a deadbeat tenant who owes you money, the Shortcut Man will collect it for you. Need someone to track down a missing person? Call the Shortcut Man. In the debut novel, Shortcut Man, Dick Henry accepts an assignment from Artie Benjamin, a porn producer. In Tribulations of the Shortcut Man, Dick Henry takes on the case of his former girl friend, Pussy Grace (a pole dancer). One thing leads to another thing and suddenly there’s a body on ice to be reckoned with. In Angel’s Gate the crimes committed decades ago resurface and the Shortcut Man has to dispense his own special brand of justice in Hollywood. I flew through these books. The style is smooth, the action is quirky, and the plots are cunning. If you’re looking for entertaining reading, you’ll find it in the Shortcut Man books. GRADE: B+ (for all three books)
I read the first one and liked it. Need to read the other 2. He is the son of the film director Preston Sturges.
I was just going to see exactly what Steve said. I read something (can’t remember where, but I don’t think it was the Quindlen interview) about these books, found out that “p.g. sturges” is Preston Sturges, Jr. and read the first book last month. I don’t think I’d read the three in a row but I will definitely go back and read the second one soon.
Steve, I wondered if “p.g. sturges” was related to Preston Sturges. I’m glad you cleared that up.
Jeff, I had some time off for Presidents Day so I figured I could read these three books in a short amount of time. But I know what you mean: reading three p. g. sturges books in a row was like eating three hot fudge sundaes in a row.
Sounds like a fun read. Have to look for it.
Patti, you would enjoy these Shortcut Man books. They’re zany.
I got this from Wikipedia:
Sturges married four times and had three sons:[3][18]
Estelle deWolfe Mudge – married in December 1923, separated in 1927, divorced in 1928
Eleanor Close Hutton (a daughter of Marjorie Merriweather (Post) Close Hutton Davies May) – eloped on April 12, 1930, marriage annulled on April 12, 1932
Louise Sargent Tevis – married on November 7, 1938 in Reno, Nevada, separated in April 1946, divorced in November 1947 son Solomon Sturges IV (b. June 25, 1941) – actor
Anne Margaret “Sandy” Nagle (a lawyer and former actress) – married on April 15, 1951, marriage ended in 1959 with Sturges’ death, mother of his two younger sons:
Preston Sturges Jr. (b. February 22, 1953) – screenwriter
Thomas Preston Sturges (b. June 22, 1956) – music executive
Jeff, this is a nice piece of research! The Shortcut Man books are very cinematic.
Good, bad, or indifferent, I have no interest in anyone that can’t capitalize who isn’t e.e. cummings.
Bob, I share your opinion of non-capitalized names. But p. g. sturges’ books are worth reading.
I don’t care. I have thousands of unread books here and I can afford to be discriminatory, grumpy, and unreasonable.