Thirty (20 page)

-30-

Now I don’t know where this came from, although you can Google your way to a couple of explanations that seem at least half-plausible. Thirty—an end, a beginning, a turning point. Whatever.

Then some moron changed the title.

All right, these things happen. And in the world of paperback originals they happened rather often, and the author was rarely consulted. Often the first he knew of it was when he held a copy of the printed book in his hands.

Here’s what they changed it to:
I Am Curious Thirty

That makes little enough sense on the face of it, and even less when you know the reference. A year or so before the book came out, a sexually adventurous Swedish film was released in America with the English title
I Am Curious—Yellow
. That title didn’t mean much of anything, as far as I can tell, although it may be just plain terrific in Swedish. But
Thirty’
s new title was designed, I guess, to make people think of this Swedish film, which by then had pretty much disappeared from this country’s consciousness, not to mention its theaters.

Oh, never mind.

Jill Emerson followed
Thirty
with a book she called
Three
. That was changed to
Threesome
, which was probably an improvement, truth to tell. Next came
A Madwoman’s Diary
, another shot at diary form, and that title was changed to
Sensuous
. Next came a novel in the form of letters to and from the protagonist—but so many people who read it liked it so much that I put my own name on it instead of Jill’s, and sent it not to Berkley but to some hardcover publishers. Bernard Geis published it with my title:
Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man
.

But that’s another story. In fact it’s a whole batch of other stories, to be recounted elsewhere.

I hope you enjoyed this one.

-30-

—Lawrence Block
Greenwich Village
Lawrence Block ([email protected]) welcomes your email responses; he reads them all, and replies when he can.

A Biography of Lawrence Block

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.

A four-year-old Block in 1942.

Block during the summer of 1944, with his baby sister, Betsy.

Block’s 1955 yearbook picture from Bennett High School in Buffalo, New York.

Block in 1983, in a cap and leather jacket. Block says that he “later lost the cap, and some son of a bitch stole the jacket. Don’t even ask about the hair.”

Block with his eldest daughter, Amy, at her wedding in October 1984.

Seen here around 1990, Block works in his office on New York’s West 13th Street with, he says, “a bad haircut, an ugly shirt, and a few extra pounds.”

Block at a bookstore appearance in support of
A Walk Among the Tombstones
, his tenth Matthew Scudder novel, on Veterans Day, 1992.

Block and his wife, Lynne.