Get It Now The Woman Chaser Engineered By Charles Willeford Disseminated As Softcover

title has little relevance, the book moves along and is cleverly organized as a film treatment,
Williford is a unique talent, and an acquired taste,
If I find the movie based upon the book, I will certainly watch it,
Hummm. Another book by Charles Willeford and again, how would this be classified, what genre

As a writer, Willeford is very difficult to categorize and rightly so.
Ive read almost all of his books and they range from absurd to zany from intense to humorous,

The Woman Chaser falls somewhere between a to z starting with the opening paragraph which begins like a movie script.
For good reason, too. After a few chapters that's what it's about a movie script and Richard Hudson's life in humdrum Amercia, living or not the Amercian dream.


Hudson is an offthechart great used car salesman who gets bored with all the money hes made selling used cars.
With the big thumbs up from his boss in San Francisco, Richard buys a used car lot in Los Angeles, gussies it up, staffs it, reconnects with his family he grew up in LA and soon thereafter leaves for a hotel room to write his first movie script.
He has a strong desire, an urgent need to be creative apparently having lost his himself in making money in the used car business.
Richard is like 'is this all there is' or Whats it all About, Alfie”

His family consists of his forever a ballerina mother, stepfather who is about his age and a down and out movie producer, and his stepsister, a nubile teenager.
Beginning with absurd or ending with zany, either term will do, my favorite part in the book is when he finds his mother in the wellappointed basement ballet dancing to The Miraculous Mandarin.
He strips off his shirt and begins dancing with her becoming the “the Miraculous Mandarin himself, the damndest Chinaman anybody ever saw! I chased, I pursued, I made impossible leaps and came down as lightly as a windwafted cigarette paper.
” What a sight, in my mind, to behold when Richard “pranced, cavorted, darted, turned, glided, bent, stretched, and did a mad fouetee on one leg” until he almost lost reason, he says.
That was the turning point, when he decided that writing and directing the movie was his destiny, The only reason for his existence at this point in his life,

I found myself from time to time thinking about the movie American Beauty, a midlife crisis in the making.
Here's Richard, in midlife crisis mode, and I'm reading it line by line, And the title, well, women are throwaways for him, but then so is everything else when he decides his life is not complete until his movie is written, directed by himself, of course and in the theaters as the biggest success since Gone With the Wind.
When his masterpiece is completed, well, thats the story, so Ill leave it up to you to take the time to read this little jewel of a book, a scantpages.


In my view, Willeford is underestimated, if estimated at all on anyones radar, Hes relatively unknown except for those interested in noir he wrote from the's's although he cant, in my mind, be classified in that category either.
But he was a great underrated talent who should be studied in creative writing classes and read by even more readers than some of the noted authors of today.
He's a vivid and a simply great writer in my opinion,

In my list of favorite authors, Willeford is right up there with my favorites, My only regret is that he went long periods of timeyears without writing or publishing anything so he has a very small library of books unfortunately, Im near the end of reading them.
Too bad for me but good for you if you havent read him, Hes a must in on my list and you are missing out if you haven't read him yet,
Very funny noir about a psycho used car dealer who gets the itch to make a movie and walks all over everybody in sight to get it done.
If the film version ever shows on the Sundance Channel or IFC drop everything and watch it, This is one of the few movies that totally gets the book right, Charles Willeford rules! The WomanChaser has one of the most interesting plots ever for a crime thriller, Richard Hudson, a crooked, arrogant and vicious car salesman who is really good at his job panics at a meeting of aspiring young reps.
He realizes that he is wasting his life in thetogrind, It dawns on him that we are on this planet to be creative, So he writes a script with help from his stepfather and decides to direct a film based on the script, But when his edited film fails to meet the six reelminute length standard, the studio tries to interfere in the film's future.
The crazed car salesman/movie director embarks on a rampage of destruction,

I think there is more to this book than a man trying to escape his mundane life, It is also aboutth century man's impulsive behavior without thinking about the consequences, It is about how a lot of our actions are driven by barely concealed madness, I found myself laughing and cheering on some of the actions of the main character, I could totally identify with him, Like Willeford himself said "I had a hunch that madness was a predominant theme and a normal condition for Americans living in the second half of this century.
"

The book is quite similar to High Priest of California, The character Russell Haxby also a car salesman in that novel was quite similar to Richard Hudson, Both of them are street smart all American males who would go to any lengths including violence to get what they want.
This is another captivating little novel from the cruelly underrated Charles Willeford, Richard Hudson has a Midas touch when it comes to making money, He knows what makes people tick and knows exactly how to use their desires to enrich himself, His latest venture, running a used car lot in Los Angeles, soon bores him, His keen observation of human nature drives him into pursuing a scheme to direct a movie, His movie won't be just something to sit and eat popcorn to, however, It's going to be a MOVIE! A spotlight on the human condition as he sees it, And pursuing his goal will involve a sexy dimwitted teenage stepsister, an icy secretary, a retired Army man, a failed producer, and a bizarre obsession with having car salesmen dress like Santa Clause.
This is exactly the kind of novel I love, Richard Hudson, woman chaser and used car salesman, has a pimp's awareness of the ways women and men are most vulnerable.
One day Richard decides to make an ambitious film, which turns into a fiasco, Enraged, he exacts revenge on all who have crossed him, THE WOMAN CHASER by Charles Willeford,
Willeford is impossible to pin down, He wrote all sorts of novels, always pulpy and economic, always good, The Woman Chaser follows Richard, a wildly successful used car salesman who, bored by his brilliance, embarks on a vanity film project ins LA.

Richard's movie dreams dissolve around him and he decides to take revenge on those who have wronged him,
Slightly creepy, always uncomfortable, it serves as an insight into the psyche of American males of the era, particularly in LA, where the American Dream was still a romantic possibility.

Not my favourite Willeford see Cockfighter and PickUp but very good reading as always, This is a very strange book in it's way,

The first half of the book Richard Hudson, a usedcar salesman, has returned to his native L, A. to establish a franchise. He sets up the car lot, wanes philosophical about American greed dividing the world into Feebs, feebleminded rubes, and those whounderstandhowthe worldworks, sets up house at his childhood home with his primadonna mother and her disgraced movie producer husband, and beds his sister.
It reads a bit like American Psycho,

Then in act two Hudson decides to makes a movie, He writes the script, which is dark and bizarre, and directs the thing, The book keeps things flowing with most of the action focusing on selling the movie to the studio and gathering people to make the movie.
Things don't go the way he expects and all hell breaks loose,

The last act is his running around doing insane things, I don't want to give away too much,

The book in someways mirrors the plot of the movie, but not too much as to be tacky,

The writing and pacing of the story is great, and while the main character isn't likable in the least, you can understand him.
I suppose the theme of the book, or rather it's moral, is that we are the people who, carelessly, make the world a rotten place.
We remember that girl who broke our hearts and callously disregard those hearts we broke, We're thieves that complain bitterly when robbed,

Not a polite read, but a fun one, Willeford writes the most bleak, depressing, soul crushing parodies of the American dream and blankets them in slick armchair psychology, tawdry sex scenes and shockingly desperate acts of violence.
There is nothing beautiful or tragic, in fact anything approaching that is quickly turned absurd via misplaced sentimentality, It's as if Willeford knew that in order to get published he had to include certain elements and purposely makes them distasteful.
If element A is sex, it's lightly dismissed incest, If there is anger inspired violence it's followed immediately by the donning of a Santa Clause suit, I get the feeling he is laughing at the characters, at the readers and at himself,

But hey, I read a lot of garbage, what do I know dunno what willeford this is for me.
. .or higher i believe. kindle. heh! the kindle version has the man/woman in the convertible, . . "the chase was furiousthe capture was rapaciousthe prize was luscious!"

aaaargh!

hoooorah!

"," up at the top. heh! fiftycents! now here, on the kindle, i dunno what i am ashamed to say i paid for a version that cost little, certainly less, than it cost to print that paperback version, yay, all those years ago.
petition congress. or better yet begin some civil disobedience read it was against the law! oh what the momma saw! it was against the law!

story begins:

start here
using the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, get a little slack and pull the film through this little thingamajig.
clamp here. leave a small loop so it won't flutter, and then go up over this, down under this, around this, and then tight around the big one.
sounds like he's tying a bowline it has to fit tight on the sound drum, then under this, over this, under this again, around this, and down,
or knitting a sweater



onward and upward!


heh!
this story is hilarious! i've laughed out loud a number of times.
. . although i dunno if that's because the sun has not shined here for a day or three and there's this s.
a. d. business that may or may not be at work and play, . . not much of either, alas,

the narrative starts out, . . quirky. . see above seems to be headed toward a kind ofrdperson, . . and then converts to an eyenarrator who has just stuck his tongue in his stepsister's mouth, between the pearly whites, completely unexpected the result, a laugh. isn't there some smarmy term used for stories like this, . . does metafiction fit an eyenarrator aware of himself, telling the story, . . likening the telling to the making of a movie

time amp place
may, los angeles, . . either thes perhaps thes there's mention of aautomobile, . . houses cost what was it,. i paid that for my house, . . alas
crenshaw boulevard cars one way andcars the other everyminutes
the redstone building
club
the house of lumpy grits.
. . home of alexandra
parkman towers in san francisco, . . where honest hal resides
toastmasters meeting
basement rehearsal room
exposition park, . . los angeles museum
"for several months in, . . " so, the story takes place after, . .
driving down vermont
mammoth studios
laguna, . . where laura and richard spend a day at the beach
hangover house, . . restaurant where the above go
hollywood hills, . . where richard takes laura after it all, . but nope
biltmore hotel downtown l. a.
hill street bars on the other side of pershing square
dragon's mouth entrance of the hong king club
quiet saloon on normandie
bimmi baths.
. . where richard met frances
white cabin, . . where richard wanted to take above for cokes,burgers
the office of the man, mammoth studios, culver city, california
the tiny producer's theatre next to sound stage a
sound stage f
santa barbara, burbank, san fran
van nuys.
. . where the shantz clan resides
lobero theatre
an orange grove in okai
a beer joint


characters
richard hudson, chief representative of honest hal parker, san francisco, for ten years the star used car salesman for honest hal parker.
. . isyrs old
the used car dealer across the street, mr, george ehlers
o'keefe and cullinan, hudson's parker's lawyers
hudson's mother: alexandra horotsoff hudson blake steinberg, . . has the body of ayrold, . . ballerina is possibly or or who knows
hudson's father, divorced from above, an instructor of romance languages at the university of chicago
harry blake.
. . hudson'sst stepfather he committed suicide
lupe runoz, . . a calypso singer employed by top ten tunes, . . did a rendition of "lumpy grits" that harry 'wrote' and labored over
becky steinberg, . . hudson's stepsister
new stepfather, leo steinberg, an exmovie director,yrs of age
don, . . someone honest hal could send down for a couple of weeks
leona, . . maid of hudson's mother cook etc. . she married again and lives w/her new husband down onth street, . . is from anniston, alabama. . and is a negro fdr is a cripple, may it do ya fine
mr raymond moore, . . ass't manager of triple a finance company, . . for richard's purchase for honest hal of the car lot owned/run by george ehlers
onthepremises negro mechanic hired called graphite sam
richard hires william bill conan harris, master sergeant u.
s. army retired to manage the car lot, . .yrold married, father of two children, owned his own home in fullerton
bill hires a kid to run a grill on the lot.
. . hot dogs once a week
bill hires an old lady who typed aboutwords a minute
bill hired and fired salesman until he had three of the best
friend of the girl.
. . hollywood high girl friend who had been attending too many drivein passion pit movies
dr, rums featherstone, a gynecologist imaginary who testifies against richard in his hypothetical courtroom of the mind
a woman, blowy, engulfed in a snotgreen housecoat, . .
gathered a play of children about her, . .
the toastmasters where richard is a member, . . the man who is unable to talk to his fellowamerican today is unable to eat,
twenty members present andguests including richard
sergeantatarms of a telephone company toastmaster's club
the bored guard
piomkin.
. . a possible director "one of the few artists we have", . . but nope, not him.
the man all caps at mammoth studios
elgee productions, . . richard and leo a variation on lumpy grits, . . or s'posed to be
laura harmon, . . tall, heavilybreasted young woman ofor, . . secretary to richard for a time
mr, knowles, the pesonal manager who sent laura to richard
miss hartwell, . . richard's high school english teacher
tone in fullerton, . . a wholesale car dealer or something
barefoot pete in santa monica, ditto
fred mccullers in pasadena, . . ditto
the man's all caps, secretary, an old whitehaired man of about
milo linder, . . helps richard w/casting
a salvation army captain, louise,yrold
elevator operator, . . busboy waiters bartenders waitresses
two very young, importuning private soldiers
a blonde and a chief petty officer, u, s. navy
frances a girl swimmer richard knew as ayrold
flaps heartwell, negro guitar player, music, for movie
six superfluous musicians how the industry works.
. . union, verily, hallelujah and amen, now and forevermore
tom ruggerio, film editor for the movie
zelda, a stripper from the trinidad club, provokes the appropriate audience reaction.
. . a kind of unholy glee
tommy allison, the director of photography for movie
cameramen, grips, sound technicians, makeup men, sweepers, painters
frank shantz, a man of about, van nuys
a tired old gentleman in a white smock
mrs mildred curry shantz, plays trucker's housewife in movie
mrs larson.
. . owns orange grove where chet worked
chet wilson, an outofwork actor hired to play the truck driver






a note on the narration
willeford has headings, fadeout.
. . montage ripple background go to black wipe more background dissolve to snyopsis as if the entire story is a movie script i take it no idea, me, not having read an actual script prior.
. . but that's what i suspect, meh okay.

story
richard is bored, this period of his life should have been a happy one, . . he has the time to worry about the plight of the american worker, laboring and so forth, . . so he decides to make a movie to awaken the worker, aaaargh hoorah! "one thing! one creative accomplishment could wipe away the useless days", . . so a movie, "the man who got away", . . about a truck driver drivesonoff between between l, a. and san fran hits a child and will not stop "the message was important! it had to be brought to the attention of the public!"

a quote or two
it may be fun to know, but it's even more fun to be fooled.


update, finished,dec,:p, m. e. s. t. tuesday evening
grrrrrr!! had this typed out last night and hit save but the fecking system had crashed, . . or something.

anyway



i liked the telling of this one, . . that quirky start the way willeford set it up as if the reader is viewing a movie, . . sorta the change fromrd tost, . . and feck it! i wish i could recall my thoughts from last night, . . when i actually finished the fecking story,
. . okay just went to my "notes and marks" on the, . . was not going to try to recall as it slipped, . . was rather going to simply complete the character list above,

but there is a swift and sudden mood change in thethth act of this one, . . the bottom dropped out richard had the rug pulled out from under him, and there's a santa claus outfit involved, heh! thought the timing of that could not have been much better, . .

i think i'm marking this one as a favorite, . . as much for the way the story is told as for how the temperature changes to that brutal freeze at the end.





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