Elmore Leonard

The laconic Elmore Leonard once noted, “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” His ultimate object, he wrote, was “invisibility.”  Even punctuation was avoidable.  Dialogue and blank space ruled.  In the process, he wrote countless bestsellers over his long career, starting out with Westerns.  His novels and short stories often became films, including “Hombre,” “3:10 to Yuma, “The Tall T,” “Get Shorty” and “Out of Sight.”  He died at the age of 87, but you can hear many of his interviews with Leonard over the years below...and his sense of humor comes through loud and clear.

Elmore Leonard was here to talk about his latest novel, Raylan, and he admitted that he's a fan of Wheel of Fortune. Find out what else he's a fan of:

Elmore Leonard talks about bringing back U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the hero of Pronto, Riding the Rap, and the hit FX series Justified, in his latest novel,  Raylan.

Elmore Leonard is a fan of The Hurt Locker. Find out what else he revealed to us after his recent appearance on The Leonard Lopate Show.

Crime fiction master Elmore Leonard talks about his latest novel, Djibouti. It tells the story of Dara Barr, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, who travels to Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa to film Somali pirates in action.

Elmore Leonard has just come out with his 40th novel, called The Hot Kid. Unlike most of his books where the action takes place over a few crazed weeks, The Hot Kid spans the 1920s and 30s in Oklahoma. It's filled with lawmen and bank ...