As I recall it, 1998 was a good year for Elmore Leonard. At least it was a good year for me and Elmore... A silly summer TV show called Maximum Bob caught my attention and when I realized it was based on a book by the same author that wrote Get Shorty, I decided to give him a look. I feel like in that same time span, Out of Sight and Jackie Brown (two movies based on his books) also came out, so yeah, I planned to check him out.
I read Get Shorty and Maximum Bob, and then I proceeded to burn through most of his 30+ books. And since then, I've faithfully read his new books as they come out.
The funny thing is I don't really remember many of the older stories anymore, but one scene is forever blasted into my mind. I'm pretty sure it was in Glitz... the main character (I think he was a cop or detective) is walking an arm full of groceries to his car when a thug confronts him. The cop doesn't handle the situation well and ends up getting shot. Later he thinks back and wonders "why didn't I just throw down my groceries and shoot the guy?" or something like that. He didn't even consider it an option at the time, because ya just don't throw your groceries... the eggs might break!
Now whenever I'm carrying groceries, I think "man, I'd effin' throw these groceries so hard if someone attacked me right now!!" Fortunately for the groceries, the situation has yet to arise.
