Chili: "Okay. Open at the drycleaning shop. You see the shylock talking to Fay, the wife."

Michael: "I thought the guy was an agent."

Chili: "I changed him back to a drycleaner."

Michael: "You still don't have a script?"

Karen: "They're working on the moral dilemma."

Michael: "That writes itself. I want to know what happens."

Chili: "Yeah, that's what I'm telling you."

Michael: "Let's go to the third act and then come back if we want. You build to a climactic scene. What is it?"

Chili: "You're referring to the action, with Ray Carlo."

Michael: "Who's Ray Carlo?"

Chili: "He was Bones, I changed his name. Okay, Randy finally catches up with Leo ..."

Michael: "Wait. Who the f.u.c.k is Randy?"

Chili: "Randy's the shylock. You need a nice-guy name. You don't want to call him Lefty, c.o.c.keye, Joe Loop, one of those."

Elaine: "Sonny's nice."

Chili: "It's not bad. I know a Lucky, a Jojo, Momo, Jimmy Cap, Cowboy, Sucky, Chooch ..."

Elaine: "Sucky?"

Michael: "Okay, I'm Randy, for the moment anyway. What happens?"

Chili: "They catch up with Leo the drycleaner, Randy leans on him a little, not much, and Leo tells them, okay, the dough's out at the airport in a locker. So Randy and Fay have the key and are at the moral dilemma part when Ray Carlo shows up. Actually he's already there, searching the place when they get home from Leo's. Carlo, he's got a gun, takes the key offa Randy and Randy says okay, you win, the dough's out at the airport. Ray Carlo leaves to go get it and Randy calls the FBI."

Michael: "All he's doing is picking up money. What would they arrest him for?"

Chili: "They'd at least give him a hard time. Randy knows this and wants to see it, so he and Fay go out to the airport. They see the bust and look at each other with surprise, 'cause what's in that locker is not money but cocaine. You understand? Leo was settingthem up, or anybody that got on to him." up, or anybody that got on to him."

Michael, frowning: "That's how it ends?"

Chili: "No, you still have Leo."

Michael: "I thought Carlo was the heavy."

Chili, noticing the way Karen was staring at him: "That's what you're suppose to think. No, that's the surprise. Leo's the bad guy, from the beginning."

Elaine: "Good. I like Leo."

Harry: "Leo has delusions of grandeur, wants to be famous, hobn.o.b with movie stars, entertainers.

Elaine: "He could be fun to watch, while the other guy's just a heavy."

Michael: "Leo's a schmuck."

Elaine: "He's sort of schmucky, that's all right."

Karen: "He could have some funny lines, out of desperation."

Michael: "Wait a minute-"

Chili: "Yeah, he could be funny. I still think, though, he oughta fall off the balcony."

There was a silence.

Michael, quietly: "Okay ... what balcony?"

Chili: "Leo's apartment, twenty floors up overlooking Sunset. He's with this starlet, they're drinking, doing c.o.ke, when Fay and Randy walk in. Basically what happens, here's Leo and here's the guy he's been paying for years and was always scared to death of. But right now Leo's flying on c.o.ke and booze and doesn't know enough to be scared ofany thing, this little drycleaner. What he wants to do is put the shylock down-you know what I mean? Dishonor him, this guy he thinks of as a hard-on, a regular mob kind of guy." Chili paused. "Suddenly Leo jumps up on the cement railing of the balcony and says, 'Let's see if you got the nerve to do this, tough guy.' The starlet screams. Fay yells at him to get down. The shylock doesn't do nothing, he watches, 'cause he knows this guy basically is a loser. He watches Leo take three steps and that's it, off he goes, screaming all the way down twenty floors to the pavement." thing, this little drycleaner. What he wants to do is put the shylock down-you know what I mean? Dishonor him, this guy he thinks of as a hard-on, a regular mob kind of guy." Chili paused. "Suddenly Leo jumps up on the cement railing of the balcony and says, 'Let's see if you got the nerve to do this, tough guy.' The starlet screams. Fay yells at him to get down. The shylock doesn't do nothing, he watches, 'cause he knows this guy basically is a loser. He watches Leo take three steps and that's it, off he goes, screaming all the way down twenty floors to the pavement."

There was a silence again.

Michael: "That's how it ends?"

Chili: "After that, they find the money in the closet. They have another moral dilemma talk, a short one, and take off for Mexico in a brand-new Mercedes."

Michael, to Elaine: "You know what I do in this picture? I stand around and watch."

Chili: "You want to shoot somebody? Or, hey, you want to play Leo? Take the dive?"

Elaine: "I don't know why, but Leo fascinates me. The little drycleaner with all that money. I'd like to see what he does with it."

Harry: "Sure, the guy must think he's died and gone to heaven."

Michael: "Elaine-"

Elaine: "He wouldn't have to take the dive, would he?"

Karen: "Not if he lives on the ground floor."

Michael: "Is it a comedy? At this point, who knows?" Grins. "I can see why you don't have a script. All you have is an idea, and you know what ideas are worth."

Chili: "Michael?"

Michael: "I'm going to London tomorrow. New York a few days and then grab the Concorde. But I'll put my writer on it first. By the time I get back next month we should have a treatment we can play with and then go right into a first draft."

Chili: "Michael, look at me."

Michael, grinning: "Right. That's what it's all about, right there, the look."

Chili: "You don't mind my saying, Michael, I don't see you as the shylock."

Michael: "Really ... Why not?"

Chili: "You're too short."

Harry waited till they were in the car, driving along the street of sound stages toward the main gate.

"You have to be out of your mind, talk to a guaranteed box-office star like that. You blew any chance of getting him."

Chili, in the backseat, kept quiet. It was too hard to explain why during the meeting he started seeing Michael as Leo, thinking that if he wanted to play Leo, great; and after that couldn't see him as the shylock. It had nothing to do with the fact he didn't like the guy or trust him or would never loan him money, the guy was still a great actor.

Karen said, "Harry, we knew going in he'd back out sooner or later, it's what he does."

"Then what was the meeting for?"

"Elaine, she loves the whole idea, except the ending. You heard her, she thinks Pacino would be perfect."

Chili said, "He's kinda short too, isn't he?"

"They all are," Karen said. "You shoot up."

They drove through the gate and followed a side street to Hollywood Boulevard.

"What if," Chili said, "Leo hops on the railing and makes a speech. Says how he sweated, worked his a.s.s off all his life as a drycleaner, but he's had these few weeks of living like a movie star and now he can die happy. In other words he commits suicide. Steps off the balcony and the audience walks out in tears. What do you think?"

Karen said, "Uh-huh ..." Harry said he wanted a drink and Karen said that wasn't a bad idea. Chili didn't say anything, giving it some more thought. f.u.c.kin endings, man, they weren't as easy as they looked.

The Extras I.ALL BY ELMORE: THE CRIME NOVELS; THE WESTERNS.

II.SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY.

III.IF IT SOUNDS LIKE WRITING, REWRITE IT.

V.MARTIN AMIS INTERVIEWS "THE d.i.c.kENS OF DETROIT"

This section was prepared by the editorial staff of PerfectBound e-books, who thankMr. Gregg Sutter , Elmore Leonard's longtime researcher and aide-de-camp, for his unstinting support and help in the a.s.sembling of this material. , Elmore Leonard's longtime researcher and aide-de-camp, for his unstinting support and help in the a.s.sembling of this material.

Further riches await the reader at the website that Mr. Sutter maintains, www.elmoreleonard.com, and in "The Extras" sections of other PerfectBound editions of Elmore Leonard's novels ("All by Elmore" and "Selected Filmography" come standard in each e-book).

All by Elmore The Crime Novels The Big Bounce(1969);Mr. Majestyk (1974); (1974);52 Pickup (1974); (1974);Swag* (1976); (1976);Unknown Man #89 (1977); (1977);The Hunted (1977); (1977);The Switch (1978); (1978);City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit (1980); (1980);Gold Coast(1980);Split Images (1981); (1981);Cat Chaser (1982); (1982);Stick (1983); (1983);LaBrava (1983); (1983);Glitz (1985); (1985);Bandits (1987); (1987);Touch (1987); (1987);Freaky Deaky (1988); (1988);Killshot (1989); (1989);Get Shorty (1990); (1990);Maximum Bob (1991); (1991);Rum Punch (1992); (1992);p.r.o.nto (1993); (1993);Riding the Rap (1995); (1995);Out of Sight (1996); (1996);Be Cool (1999); (1999);Pagan Babies (2000); (2000);"Fire in the Hole"* (e-book original story, 2001); (e-book original story, 2001);Tishomingo Blues (2002); (2002);When the Women Come Out to Dance: Stories (2002). (2002).

The Westerns The Bounty Hunters*(1953);The Law at Randado* (1954); (1954);Escape from Five Shadows* (1956); (1956);Last Stand at Saber River* (1959); (1959);Hombre* (1961); (1961);The Moonshine War* (1969); (1969);Valdez Is Coming* (1970); (1970);Forty Lashes Less One* (1972); (1972);Gunsights* (1979) (1979)Cuba Libre (1998); (1998);The Tonto Woman and Other Western Stories* (1998). (1998).

As of November 2002:Unless otherwise indicated (*), all t.i.tles are available from PerfectBound e-books. All t.i.tles are available in print form in dazzling new editions by HarperTorch paperbacks, with the exception of:The Moonshine War (1969); (1969);Swag (1976); "Fire in the Hole" (2001). "Fire in the Hole" is available within PerfectBound e-book and William Morrow hardcover editions of (1976); "Fire in the Hole" (2001). "Fire in the Hole" is available within PerfectBound e-book and William Morrow hardcover editions ofWhen the Women Come Out to Dance (2002). (2002).

The Crime Novels The Big Bounce(1969) Jack Ryan always wanted to play pro ball. But he couldn't hit a curveball, so he turned his attention to less legal pursuits. A tough guy who likes walking the razor's edge, he's just met his match - and more - in Nancy. She's a rich man's plaything, seriously into thrills and risk, and together she and Jack are pure heat ready to explode. But when simple housebreaking and burglary give way to the deadly pursuit of areally big score, the stakes suddenly skyrocket. Because violence and double-cross are the name of this game - and it's going to take every ounce of cunning Jack and Nancy possess to survive ... each other. big score, the stakes suddenly skyrocket. Because violence and double-cross are the name of this game - and it's going to take every ounce of cunning Jack and Nancy possess to survive ... each other.

Houston Chronicle: "[Leonard is] a sage poet of crime."

From the novel: She was facing him now, her cold look gone and smiling a little. Of course it's loaded.

"You going to shoot something?"

"We could. Windows are good."

"So you brought a gun to shoot at windows."

"And boats. Boats are fun."

"I imagine they would be. How about cars?"

"I didn't think about cars." She seemed pleasantly surprised. "Isn't that funny?

"Yeah that is funny."

"There's a difference," Ryan said, "between breaking and entering and armed robbery."

"And there's a difference between seventy-eight dollars and fifty thousand dollars."