The biography of the author of Get Shorty, Be Cool, and Out of Sight. ''I do it because it's fun... it's the most fun thing I can think of doing'' - Elmore Leonard on the secret of his successful writing career. For six decades now, American crime novelist Elmore ''Dutch'' Leonard has been entertaining readers around the world with his unique style, gritty dialogue, and quirky characters. Beginning as a writer of Western stories in the 1950s and moving into the crime genre in the 1960s, Leonard has published 36 novels, and many of these - including the recent hits Out of Sight, Get Shorty, and Jackie Brown - have also been made into hit movies. Through it all, Leonard has won legions of crime fiction fans who can't get enough of his dialogue - driven narratives and intricate plots. Get Dutch! A Biography of Elmore Leonard is the first full - length biography of Leonard in over a decade. Author Paul Challen has mined a number of key sources in the search to uncover the story of this remarkable writer, including in - depth interviews with Leonard himself, his personal research assistant, the screenwriter responsible for bringing Out of Sight and Get Shorty to the big screen, academics who have studied Leonard and his place in the literary world, and with crime fiction experts who have analyzed the impact of Leonard's novels on the reading public. Get Dutch! presents the life of Leonard from the perspective of a long - time fan, and gives the reader an up - to - date look at how this genre - defying author went from advertising copywriter to best - selling novelist over the course of his long career.