Get Shorty

Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard tells the story of mob-connected loan shark Chili Palmer, who chases a deadbeat client out to Hollywood from Miami and then finds he loves the L.A. lifestyle. Chili has become dissatisfied with life in Miami so with an idea for a movie simmering in his head, he goes about trying to get it made even though it may be the death of him. He hooks up with Harry Zimm a producer of low budget horror films who is looking to step up the quality of his films.

Chili Palmer is a fantastic character, big on style, wise in the ways of those who operate outside the law and enthusiastic about films and Hollywood. Along with Chili, Leonard fills this book with interesting backup characters, great dialogue and an ingenious plot show more with plenty of humor and action.

This is a story that grabbed me from page one. Get Shorty with it’s sharp and clever style is both cool and fun as well as an excellent send-up of how business is conducted in Hollywood. show less

I think that perhaps no one does dialogue better than Elmore Leonard. I just love how he writes and how he tells a story. He always surprises me with where he ends up, and the journey is sure to be filled with humor and interesting characters. In this one we meet Chili Palmer, who is a bookmaker/loan shark with mob connections working out of Miami. When Chili gets ensnared in chasing a client who faked his death all the way to Hollywood in order to collect, he decides to also check out the movie business. He has a great idea for a movie. This comedy of errors is fast paced and funny and smart, and like most Leonard products, it delivers. Chili is not quite as cool as Raylan Givens (of Justified fame, but he is also not to be missed. show more Highly recommended. show less

Chili Palmer, collector for a loan shark, leaves Miami in search of a defaulting dry cleaner named Leo. Leo not only owes money to the mob, he’s also cheated an airline out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then skipped town on his wife taking all the money with him. Chili has volunteered to collect for Leo’s wife as well as his organized crime employers. But, when he catches up with Leo in Las Vegas, Leo skips town again, this time for Los Angeles and Hollywood. In Hollywood, Chili encounters Harry Zimm, producer of Slime Creatures, Hairraiser, and the Grotesque series, B movies that made some good money a decade or so ago, but now Harry is trying to raise money to produce a more serious film. When Chili explains to Harry show more why he’s in Hollywood, Harry thinks Chili is trying to pitch him the plot for a gangster movie. He explains he’s short of cash and his only backers are a couple of guys who run a limousine service, and he’s trying to get some more money out of them. Chili offers to help.

As it turns out, the limo guys transport drugs as well as people. Chili discovers that his skill set of talking to people, gaining their confidence, and motivating them through the subtle implication of bodily harm with only the occasional use of it when necessary, are readily transferable skills in the movie business. And the fun begins. Leonard, as always delivers a fully realized cast of characters, dashes of suspense, and darkly comic plot twists in his take on commercial filmmaking in the late 1980s. show less

I have done the Get shorty thing in reverse here, having seen the movie, the TV series and now finally the thing that spawned all that, the book. A modern American classic and some of the cultural references are very much of the 1990s.

Chili Palmer is a Miami ‘Shylock’ a loan shark who always remains calm when collecting his debts. Chili has only lost his temper once when a made guy took his leather jacket from a restaurant and he went and ‘collected’ it from him. Breaking the nose of a mob guy in the process of reclaiming your property is not good for your business or life expectancy.

Chili is collecting or attempting to from a guy allegedly killed in an airline crash, but he finds out he is alive and well living elsewhere. Chili show more finds the guy in Los Vegas with an insurance payout, and he is going to collect the debt. The guy then disappears to Los Angeles, and it is here that Chili eventually finds the guy and collects his debt.

While he is in Los Angeles and Hollywood decides to track down his favourite film director Harry Zimm. It does not take him long to find him and then pitch a film story which is true and Zimm bites. Harry has problems and the other investors do not want to be pushed out. At the same time Chili has the mob guy with a grudge chasing him down, in fact he has a whole host of bad guys chasing him and his money.

This is a good funny story well worth reading. show less

This is a quirky, entertaining work, with colorful and memorable characters, snappy dialogue, and an amusing plot. It is also a satirical commentary on the shallowness of the Hollywood movie business. In fact, some of its satire is so true- to life that it's hard to tell what is fictional and what is real. For example, movie titles that the reader might suppose are made- up are of actual movies: Slime People, Assault of the Killer Bimbos, Surf Nazis Must Die, and Space Sluts in the Slammer. Having seen the film before reading the book, I constantly envisioned John Travolta as Chili Palmer. This book is considered one of Mr. Leonard's best, and I can see why. However, I'm still not sure who "Shorty" is -- the actor Michael Weir?

Ernesto Chili Palmer is a motherfuckin' gangster. A motherfuckin' gangster, and he wants to be the next Tarantino.

From the second you're introduced to him, he exudes cool and feels like a much different mobster from the image of a hard-boiled Italian we're used to in media. He's laid-back, part Latin, but has a fiery temper when needed. My issues begin and (mostly) end with the rest of the characters. In mob stories, your cast roster and chemistry plays a big part of how memorable your story is. I can count on one hand the characters I found to be compelling here: Chili and Karen. Harry is a funny guy sometimes, but you can tell his glory days are behind him. Bo Catlett is conflicting because as much as I loved his backstory, Leonard show more gives the imprssion he didn't know what to do with him story-wise until the very end of the book. The cat and mouse chase between him and Chili isn't really compelling, though Yayo and The Bear are cool enough side characters to fit a few more mob archetypes in.

A character I personally wish was used more was Ray Bones. His introduction in chapter 1 was awesome, and his re-introduction later on was even better. He and Chili bounce off each other perfectly, and if they didn't hate each other, I could see 'em in a buddy cop film if Chili hits it big in the movie business. The ending is the only part of this book I genuinely dislike. I understand people who hate the Sopranos ending now, though this specific instance of that style of ending feels very meta here and adds character to the story.

Overall, a fun romp and a great introduction to crime novels for me, but the pacing from around chapter 16 to chapter 23 made it a bit of a slog to get through. show less

I got this book because it is on the 1001 Books to Read Before you Die list. Most of the books on the list are "literature" so the few that are less high-faluting stand out. I enjoyed this take on the Hollywood film industry more than I thought I would. Does it deserve its spot on the 1001 list? Probably since in 1990 it pushed the envelope for hard crime by commenting on how fake the film industry is.

Chili Palmer is a small time Mafia crook involved in the loan shark business in Miami. One of his customers, Leo Devoe, skips out on his loan after the plane he was supposed to be on crashed and he was declared dead. The airline gave his wife, Fay, three hundred thousand dollars which Leo took and went to Las Vegas promising to send for show more Fay when he gets established. Chili finds out from Fay that Leo is alive and he goes to Las Vegas to find him. He does track him down and gets the money but when he finds out that Leo has left Vegas for Los Angeles and hasn't contacted Fay he decides to follow him. A friend who works for a Vegas casino asks him to track down their customer, Harry, a film producer who owes them lots of money. Chili does so and also finds out where Leo probably is. Late one night Chili breaks into the house where Harry is staying and Chili and Harry end up talking about movies. Chili is a big fan of the movies and he thinks maybe he could break into producing by befriending Harry. Harry has a script that he wants to get a big name actor in the starring role and Chili actually has a connection to the actor's girlfriend. Thus starts a series of events that shows how superficial Hollywood can be. A subplot involves a shipment of drugs from Miami to LA which the feds are waiting to pounce on. It's a convoluted tale and the reader wonders how any movies get made when everyone seems so concerned about their image at the expense of making movies.

Reading some reviews about this book I learned that Elmore Leonard had been shafted by a famous actor for the script of a movie made of a previous book. I think Leonard got the last laugh. show less