The Boston PI agrees to an interview in this entertaining blend of short story and biographical profile by the legendary mystery author.

Spenser and his psychologist girlfriend, Susan, are relaxing in a courtyard on a lovely June afternoon. But accompanying them is Susan's friend Amy, and she's got a project: a book examining the men in risky professions-cops, firemen, special forces soldiers... and PIs. Requesting some help in her research, she peppers Spenser with questions. This short work by the New York Times-bestselling author of the Spenser series follows the stories he tells in his inimitable style, on topics ranging from his childhood to his personal relationships to, most intriguingly, what gets him up every morning to take on the bad guys once again.

"The toughest, funniest, wisest, private eye in the field." - Houston Chronicle

"Spenser probably had more to do with changing the private eye from a coffin-chaser to a full-bodied human being than any other detective hero." - Chicago Sun-Times

Previously published in the collection In Pursuit of Spenser

Autorentext

Robert Brown Parker was born in 1932 in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he met Joan, his future wife, when they were children. They began dating while both attended Colby College and were married in 1956. They have two sons, David and Daniel.
Parker received his doctorate from Boston University in 1971 with a thesis on the private eyes of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald. Today, Parker is generally regarded as next in succession after these three literary icons, and as the great writer of the hard-boiled private-detective novel. He has written, on average, two books a year for more than three decades. In addition to his Spenser series, which served as the basis for the popular television series Spenser: For Hire in the 1980s, he has written several books about characters Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall, two with Philip Marlowe as the protagonist, and such standalone novels as All Our Yesterdays, Wilderness, and Double Play. His fourth novel, Promised Land, won an Edgar Award as best novel of 1977. Parker was named Grand Master Award in 2002 by the Mystery Writers of America.