Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard (1925–2013) was an American crime novelist and screenwriter whose taut, dialogue-driven crime fiction earned him the nickname 'the Dickens of Detroit' and the admiration of virtually every major crime writer in America. Born in New Orleans and raised in Detroit, Leonard began his career writing Western short stories and novels in the 1950s before shifting to crime fiction in the 1960s and 1970s and achieving mainstream bestseller status with books like Get Shorty (1990), Out of Sight (1996), and Rum Punch (1992). Leonard's fiction is celebrated above all for its dialogue—crackling, idiomatic, and perfectly characterised—and for its intricate plots driven by characters from the criminal underworld and the margins of American life. His characters speak with a vividness and authenticity that few writers in any genre have matched. Many of his novels have been adapted into films and television series, including the long-running FX series Justified (based on his character Raylan Givens). He received the National Book Foundation's Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2012. Leonard's memoir on craft, Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing (2007), has become a classic guide for fiction writers.