Mr. Kushins, whose previous books include a biography of the musician Warren Zevon, does an excellent job of guiding us through Leonard’s stories, manuscripts and adaptations.
Kushins had access to copious documents from throughout Leonard’s career and does clear and concise work to reconstruct the trajectory of his life and career ... A thoroughly researched chronicle of Leonard and his literary career. Likely to be popular where Brian Jay Jones’s and Walter Isaacson’s biographies circulate well.
Kushins isn’t the first to give Leonard the biographical treatment—see, for example, Paul Challen’s Get Dutch! (2000)—but he may be the first to really get inside the author’s mind, to show us not just who Elmore Leonard was but how he got that way. For Leonard’s legion of fans, the book is a must-read, but you don’t need to be a Leonard fan to enjoy this beautifully crafted life story.
