Robert B. Parker
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Robert B. Parker (born September 17, 1932) is an acclaimed American writer of detective fiction. His most famous works are the Spenser series, which achieved a far wider audience due to being dramatized as a television series, Spenser: For Hire, on the ABC network during the late 1980s. His works explore aspects of human nature and incorporate considerable knowledge about the Boston metropolitan area.
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[edit] Biography
Robert Brown Parker was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He met his future wife Joan when they were both children in their hometown of Springfield; they began dating at Colby College. They married in 1956; they have two sons, David and Daniel. Robert Parker received a Ph. D. in English literature from Boston University in 1971, with a dissertation on the private-eye heroes of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald. He worked in technical writing and advertising and then in academia, eventually becoming a full professor at Northeastern University, Boston. He became a full-time writer in 1979. He and his wife separated in 1982 but reconciled in 1984, first living separately and since 1986 living on different floors of a house in Cambridge.
Parallels between Parker's life and his fiction are easy to find. His first literary collaboration with his wife, Three Weeks in Spring, is based on her first bout with breast cancer. Spenser's separation from and reconciliation with his girlfriend mirror the Parkers' marriage. Spenser's surrogate son, Paul Giacomin, is a dancer and choreographer like David Parker. Both David and Daniel Parker are gay, a situation that may be reflected in several sympathetic gay characters in Parker's fiction. In fact Daniel Parker, an actor, has played two of those characters (Spike and Detective Lee Farrell) in television film versions of his father's novels.
[edit] Selected bibliography
[edit] Spenser novels
- The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)
- God Save the Child (1974)
- Mortal Stakes (1975)
- Promised Land (1976) (Edgar Award, 1977, Best Novel)
- The Judas Goat (1978)
- Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980)
- Early Autumn (1981)
- A Savage Place (1981)
- Ceremony (1982)
- The Widening Gyre (1983)
- Valediction (1984)
- Catskill Eagle (1985)
- Taming a Sea Horse (1986)
- Pale Kings and Princes (1987)
- Crimson Joy (1988)
- Playmates (1989)
- Stardust (1990)
- Pastime (1991)
- Double Deuce (1992)
- Paper Doll (1993)
- Walking Shadow (1994)
- Thin Air (1995)
- Chance (1996)
- Small Vices (1997)
- Sudden Mischief (1998)
- Hush Money (1999)
- Hugger Mugger (2000)
- Potshot (2001)
- Widow's Walk (2002)
- Back Story (2003)
- Bad Business (2004) (also includes Sunny Randall, unnamed)
- Cold Service (2005)
- School Days (2005)
- Hundred-Dollar Baby (2006)
- Now and Then forthcoming October 2007
[edit] Jesse Stone novels
- Night Passage (1997)
- Trouble in Paradise (1998)
- Death In Paradise (2001)
- Stone Cold (2003)
- Sea Change (2006) (also includes Spencer, unnamed)
- High Profile (2007)
[edit] Sunny Randall novels
- Family Honor (1999)
- Perish Twice (2000)
- Shrink Rap (2002)
- Melancholy Baby (2004) (also includes Susan Silverman as Sunny's therapist)
- Blue Screen (2006) (also includes Jesse Stone)
- Spare Change (2007)
[edit] Philip Marlowe novels
- Poodle Springs (1989). A continuation of an unfinished manuscript by Raymond Chandler, authorized by Chandler's estate.
- Perchance to Dream (1991). An authorized sequel to Chandler's novel The Big Sleep.
[edit] Other fiction
- Wilderness (1979)
- Love and Glory (1980)
- All Our Yesterdays (1994)
- Gunman's Rhapsody (2001)
- Double Play (2004)
- Appaloosa (2005)
- Edenville Owls (2007)
[edit] Non-fiction
- Sports Illustrated Training with Weights (with John R. Marsh) 1974
- Three Weeks in Spring (with Joan H. Parker) (1982)
- A Year At The Races (with Joan H. Parker) 1990
[edit] External links
- The Spensarium -The original online resource for fans of RBP & his Spenser series of novels and documents the literary and cultural references in the novels. est 1994
- Spenser at Yahoo!- A Yahoo! discussion group for fans of Robert B. Parker
- http://bullets-and-beer.com/ A compendious fan site
- 1984 and 1986 audio interviews of Robert B. Parker by Don Swaim of CBS Radio, RealAudio
- Henry David Thoreau and the Hard Boiled Dick - by Lonnie Willis
- Robert B. Parker at Internet Book List [1]
Categories: 1932 births | Living people | American novelists | American crime fiction writers | American mystery writers | Boston University alumni | Colby College alumni | Edgar Award winners | Massachusetts writers | Northeastern University faculty | People from Cambridge, Massachusetts | People from Springfield, Massachusetts
