Chili Palmer Revived In Leonard’S ‘Be Cool’

“Be Cool” Elmore Leonard (Dell, 355 pages, $7.50 paper).

Since his beginning days in the 1950s, when he would augment his advertising copywriter paychecks by penning stories for cheap Western magazines, Elmore Leonard has displayed a talent for colorful characters, multi-dimensional plots and - as the critics like to point out - “lean and hard prose.”

His latest book, “Be Cool,” a 1999 hardback release now in paperback, is a Leonard rarity: a sequel. He picks up Chili Palmer, his protagonist from “Get Shorty” (portrayed in the movie version by John Travolta), and follows the former leg-breaker’s efforts to make a movie.

Leonard’s expertise is that he makes a story happen even as he, through Chili, explains how he hopes things will turn out. Before we’ve made the brief journey through the book’s 355 pages, Leonard has introduced us to a woman rocker, a black record producer, a gay Samoan bodyguard (and would-be actor) and a couple of wiseguys. Meanwhile, he’s led us through a plot maze that has Chili falling in love, saving face, staying alive (in the face of several angry guys with guns), all accomplished while trying to convert his movie concept into a go project.

“Be Cool” shows that, even after 36 books, Leonard hasn’t lost his touch. And even bearing a somewhat stiff $7.50 price tag, the book is worth picking up in paperback. In fact, what more natural format is there for a modern pulp master?