More Than Justified

With the fifth season of FX's Justified winding down, I was reading up a little on Elmore Leonard, the creator of Raylan and many other memorable characters in his long career that ended with his passing last year.  Christopher Orr had a nice article in The Atlantic on the man and his work titled "The Elmore Leonard Paradox."  I have to admit that I had no idea that so many films came from Mr. Leonard's pen, from The Big Bounce to 3:10 to Yuma and Get Shorty. And it seems his pairing with Tarantino created an energy that worked well for everyone involved.

Mr. Orr writes:

By most appraisals, he had long since dethroned Raymond Chandler as the greatest of American crime writers. Many critics argued that, if anything, the reference to genre slighted his contributions. Martin Amis described him as “a literary genius,” and “the nearest America has to a national writer.”...Over the years, he honed his spare, dialogue-driven prose to a lethal leanness, and earned a reputation as the “Dickens of Detroit.”

In terms of Justified, Mr. Orr's article discusses the appearance of Raylan's white hat (Leonard wanted a smaller one) as well as the Kentucky setting of the story (Leonard's stories were more likely to take place in Miami and Detroit).  Learning this information helped me to better understand Raylan starting out in Miami in the series pilot episode, the Detroit mafia connection running through the seasons, and the first episode of season five that took place in both Miami and Detroit.  Unfortunately, Leonard was not able to enjoy season five (or at least from an Earthly perch). 

For more on the man and his creations,check out the Leonard's official website, where you can find a list of his novels, film adaptations, and more.  You can also check out his biography and read how Leonard was born in the south and finished his childhood in Detroit - two experiences that forever colored his work.  I will be busy for a long time catching up on the varied creations of this talented man.