The Busted Flush

[howyadoin]

It just came to my attention that we no longer have a Travis McGee thread (or if we do, the search engine can't find it). Needless to say, this will not do.

Especially at a point when I've just reread about half of them, in no particular order. One of these times I should make a list of the number of women he slept with and/or the number of people who got killed. The man cut quite a swath for those 21 years.

An interesting tidbit from the Wikipedia entry:
Rumors of another final McGee novel, possibly narrated by Meyer, entitled A Black Border for McGee and to be published posthumously, have never been confirmed.This is footnoted to an article from a Time review (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916954,00.html) of The Green Ripper.





Anyhow, I'm just plunging into The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper again, and I'm particularly struck by the opening chapter dealing with McGee, Meyer and a couple of others dealing with an actual bit of marine salvage. I find myself wishing he'd done a book entirely about life at sea, leaving out the crime fiction altogether.

Your thoughts, McGee fans?

[Libaax]

I dont know if i can call myself McGee fan because i have only read the first McGee book.

Travis is classic hero that i enjoyed. It was wierd reading that kind of story in florida where the sun always shines.


I wonder one thing does he ever take something from people to help them like he says ?

[howyadoin]

It was wierd reading that kind of story in florida where the sun always shines.I think that's a big part of the appeal, for me.

[Donald M.]

I wonder one thing does he ever take something from people to help them like he says ?

If you're asking what I think you're asking, then yes, he usually takes half the value of whatever he recovers as a fee, though he sometimes does freebies for very close friends and occasionally waves any fee depending on the situation.

[Donald M.]

I think that's a big part of the appeal, for me.

Yeah, as crimes stories go Travis's adventures aren't especially remarkable. As is so often the case, it's the setting and especially the characters that make the stories interesting.

It's like you said, it would have been interesting to see what MacDonald could have done with a book about Meyer and McGee without the crime elements. Just a story about their lives in Florida and maybe a bit of mild adventure at sea could have been very entertaining.

[howyadoin]

It's like you said, it would have been interesting to see what MacDonald could have done with a book about Meyer and McGee without the crime elements. Just a story about their lives in Florida and maybe a bit of mild adventure at sea could have been very entertaining.Yeah, I'd absolutely buy something like that. Or a bunch of short stories - fishing trips, parties, stuff like that.

And I'd love to know more about his brother, but I appreciate the effect of the mystery around him, too.

[Libaax]

Yeah, as crimes stories go Travis's adventures aren't especially remarkable. As is so often the case, it's the setting and especially the characters that make the stories interesting.



I think you mean crime wise Travis adventures arent remarkable because for me its characters that make 90% of a good crime book. The rest story,settings etc

Maybe because crime wise i have been brought up by masters like Chandlers,Ross Macdonald,Stark/westlake etc

Hardboiled crime. I never read crime for CSI like crime focused stories or Agatha Christie like....

[FroggieBKT]

Re-reading the McGee books is on my list for this fall. Honestly, I understand and appreciate the importance of Hammet and Chandler, I dig the darkness of Block's Scudder books, and I love the eloquent beauty of a good James Lee Burke novel, but I doubt that I'll ever read a series of crime novels that I enjoy quite as much as the McGee books. MacDonald's brilliance is in the characters, the setting, the dialogue, and above all else, the language. He creates a style that is simple while remaining evocative, recognizable but not overpowering. He really is completely under-appreciated.

[howyadoin]

Re-reading the McGee books is on my list for this fall. Honestly, I understand and appreciate the importance of Hammet and Chandler, I dig the darkness of Block's Scudder books, and I love the eloquent beauty of a good James Lee Burke novel, but I doubt that I'll ever read a series of crime novels that I enjoy quite as much as the McGee books. MacDonald's brilliance is in the characters, the setting, the dialogue, and above all else, the language. He creates a style that is simple while remaining evocative, recognizable but not overpowering. He really is completely under-appreciated.My only complaint - and it's not a big one by any means - is that nearly all of McGee's girlfriends have the same vocabulary.

[howyadoin]

Help me out here, kids. Do Johnny Dow or the Alabama Tiger ever actually appear "onscreen", as it were?

[Donald M.]

Help me out here, kids. Do Johnny Dow or the Alabama Tiger ever actually appear "onscreen", as it were?

Not to the best of my knowledge, but I'm only up to book 13 so far.

[berk]

Help me out here, kids. Do Johnny Dow or the Alabama Tiger ever actually appear "onscreen", as it were?Remind me who they are again? Was Johnny Dow the fishing buddy of McGee's who kicked a guy in the balls just as he was about to brain McGee with something or other?They were in a bar and the guy was being an arsehole, McGee made a comment, and happened to slip or something just as he was getting up off his chair to face the the guy as he approached him. It was just an incident at the beginning of one of the books, can't recall the title now, but I think one of the late-middle period.

And the Alabama Tiger - was he the guy with the never-ending party on board his boat? I did think he had a brief appearance, where he was unexpectedly lamenting a girl who left, but again can't remember the book. I gave all my copies to someone to read, should have kept them around.

Damn, it's bugging me now, I might have to try to look this up.

[Donald M.]

And the Alabama Tiger - was he the guy with the never-ending party on board his boat? I did think he had a brief appearance, where he was unexpectedly lamenting a girl who left

That does sound familiar. The never-ending party briefly ended as a result, but it may have just been that McGee described the encounter, rather than the Tiger actually "appearing".

[Calamas]

Help me out here, kids. Do Johnny Dow or the Alabama Tiger ever actually appear "onscreen", as it were?

They were both at Gretel Howard’s funeral in The Green Ripper, though not described in any detail. Every supporting character still alive was there, even if McGee was in such a state that he barely noted their presence. Meyer had handled all the arrangements.

[Calamas]

That does sound familiar. The never-ending party briefly ended as a result, but it may have just been that McGee described the encounter, rather than the Tiger actually "appearing".

Not how I remember it. I don’t remember the Tiger appearing in an actual conversation. This could have passed while McGee reminisced. I know for certain that his death (I believe of natural causes) ended the never-ending party. It is mentioned in passing in The Lonely Silver Rain, as is the fate of a couple of other people who had passed through the McGee novels. In this section, I believe it pertained to characters who were now gone. I remember Barni, the stewardess who was the girlfriend of a friend and a houseboat guest in Pale Gray for Guillt, went down with her airplane.

[Calamas]

Upon reflection I think your right. The Tiger did go into a depression over a girl, but the party rolled on without him. This was revealed in a conversation with Junebug, a close friend of the Tiger who I think lived aboard his yacht. I don’t remember in which book this took place.

I travel extensively for a living and sometimes I hate not having my library with me.

[howyadoin]

I think the Tiger's depression was over the blonde chick who married Arthur Wilkinson and helped extort all his money.

But last night as I was working through Pale Grey for Guilt, he did actually appear onscreen at the party, albeit briefly. It wasn't a speaking role, though.




As for Johnny Dow, he's the guy whose car Travis occasionally borrows when he doesn't want to be seen driving something as memorable as Miss Agnes.

[Julusnc]

Everyman would love to be Travis McGee.To live a life on your own terms sex, adventure, the sea whats not to enjoy.That is the mastery of John D MacDonald's writing.

[howyadoin]

Turns out Johnny Dow does make an onscreen appearance, in the early part of The Scarlet Ruse. He even talks.

[Bazooka Jones]

Man, I am due for a reread of this series. I'll be heading to the used book store tomorrow for a handful of paperbacks!

[berk]

Turns out Johnny Dow does make an onscreen appearance, in the early part of The Scarlet Ruse. He even talks.What does he say, or what's the scene about?

I think The Scarlet Ruse had one of the most serious adversaries of the series. That guy put the fear of God into old McGee.

[howyadoin]

What does he say, or what's the scene about? The city has decided to prohibit "permanent habitation aboard all watercraft within the city limits." All the marina people are gathered aboard the 'Bama Gal to discuss matters, and Johnny has a half-page rant beginning and ending with "ad valorem."

[Greg Hatcher]

I finally got a nice bootleg DVD of the McGee movie -- the second one, The Empty Copper Sea with Sam Elliott. Someday I'll get to see Darker Than Amber. MacDonald didn't care for either one of them, in fact he hated the movie version of Amber with Rod Taylor, but I can't help being curious.

I reread these about once a year. My new hobby is to try to get as many as I can in hardcover. I've turned up quite a few at Goodwill and other thrift shops. Doubleday re-issued a bunch of the earlier ones (that were only in paperback) in omnibus hardcover editions in later years.

Also, just as an aside, there are some fun Travis tidbits in this book of correspondence. (http://www.amazon.com/Friendship-Letters-Rowan-MacDonald-1967-1974/dp/0394552768/ref=ed_oe_h)

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/68/6a/f8199833e7a0e58c777f2110.L.jpg

It's a good read on its own, but the Travis asides are especially intriguing, if you like that kind of backstage stuff.

[howyadoin]

I definitely need to check out that book at some point.

And I just finished The Lonely Silver Rain again last night, which concludes yet another run through this series. Each time I read the series, I'm struck by how well this book wraps things up and yet still gives McGee a fresh start. Plus, the older I get, the more I appreciate how well John D. delineated the gradual changes in Travis leading up to this book.

[Rabid Trekkie]

Looking through this thread convinced me to get the first book in this series with the Barnes and Noble Gift Cards I got for my birthday. Still have to finish a couple books before I get around to it but the introduction in the book has me really interested.