Credit: first eiditon, Delacorte Press
When I was growing up, the local movie theater showed two second run movies, and it was often cheaper to rent them from the local pawn store or wait for them on HBO. To curb my appetite for movies in the theater, I would often find the books they were based on or novelizations at the library. There I stumbled upon Elmore Leonard, one of the greatest crime writers of all time. Get Shorty, Out of Sight, 8:10 to Yuma, and more stories felt alive and vibrant as if someone had sat me down by a campfire and told me the dark truth of the world: everybody is just trying to get by, even criminals. He just did it with the best dialog and twisty plots.
Swag, published in 1976 by Delacorte Press, begins the modern version of Leonard's bibliography. Before now, he'd written westerns and a few crime novels (I've been reading them the last few years). Swag has the same dark story of criminals doing crime and the police trying to catch them, but adds in a ton more levity and fun to the criminal acts. It's a fast read at around 225-250 pages depending on the edition, but it may take longer as everyone around you will ask what you are laughing at.
Characters
Frank Ryan - a car salesman with an idea about how folks should do crime
Ernest "Stick" Stickley, Jr. - a career car thief that dabbles in construction work
Maurice "Sportree" Jackson - owner of a bar, light drug dealer, and friend of Frank's
Arlene - A redheaded model "dating" an older man who funds her lifestyle
Cal Brown - a hippie police detective who comes in mid-way through the story after one of Frank, Stick, and Sportree's jobs gets violent
Many other women, law officials, and friends to fill out the world
Settings
1970's Detroit - From wikipedia: "The Guardian in a 2004 review, "There is also a period-specific charm to old crime novels, but in many ways, Leonard hasn't dated at all. This may be because now everywhere feels like mid-70s Detroit; and it may also be because we are now fluent in the dialogue of his characters."
Sportree's bar - a black bar where the characters do business
Apartment at Villa Monterey - Much of the discussions take place in Frank and Stick's apartment as well as romance while they make more money than they can spend
Hudson's Department Store - A big heist goes somewhat wrong
Various bars and supermarkets where the characters drink, shop, and rob
Plot Summary
Frank Ryan has come up with ten rules to robbing places, generally be nice and forgettable while covering your tracks and trusting only who you need to. When Stick steals a car off his lot, Frank refuses to press charges and offers Stick a job: armed robbery of various cash-heavy businesses. The two get some guns from local ne're do well Sportree, an old acquaintance of Frank's, and soon they are in business and living better than they ever have in a new apartment surrounded by women.
The story meanders through their lives until they go in with Sportree and his men to rob Hudson's Department Store. The job does not go as planned (or does it?) and Frank and Stick no longer know who they can trust. From then on they plot to outmaneuver the police, Sportree, and each other.
Favorite Scenes
Two scenes can be pinpointed as the reason Leonard probably wanted to write this novel. Both are early crimes of Frank and Stick:
Supermarket - Frank and Stick go in just before closing, gather the small staff and customers into the office with Stick while the manager opens the safe. Frank stays out to clear the registers of money but is stopped when a little old lady comes through the checkout. Not wanting to scare her and ashamed they missed her in the aisles, Frank begins to ring her up and play nice and helpful. Then tensions rise as she wants to use an expired coupon.
Bar - Frank and Stick are in a bar close to closing with more people around than they like. Then they clock a man in a too long coat that does not look like the regular crowd of older bankers hanging around. Is he police staking out to catch them or, nope, he's also there to rob the place as he pulls out a shotgun. Frank and Stick wait for him to do the hard work then pull out their guns.
Discussion Questions
The book uses harsh language, both swear words but also racist and sexist language. How was this used and is it justified in setting or character?
Race in general plays a big part in characterization. Did it make you like the characters more or less?
Have you ever been on either side of the "expired coupon" argument? How did that feel?
Have you ever been stuck in a walk-in freezer? Wanna?
What about the description or language of the book screamed: "1970s!"?
If you were to go into a life of crime in today's world, what would be different and how would you do it?