Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780753819647
ISBN number: 0753819643
Label: Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Manufacturer: Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Page Count: 240
Printing Date: December 02, 2004
Publishing house: Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Sale Popularity Level: 90523
Studio: Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
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There aren't any textbooks on armed robbery. The only way to learn is through experience, and small-time crooks Frank and Stick are determined to do as much learning on the job as possible. In 1970s' Detroit they embark on a crime spree, holding up liquor stores and supermarkets. They invent their 'Ten Golden Rules For Successful Armed Robbery' and for a short time the cash is rolling in. But then they bend their own rules, and it looks like trouble is heading their way.
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Rated by buyers 
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This was the very very first Elmore Leonard that I ever read, and it ended up being far more than what I imagined from a pulp paperback novel. I identified so much with this, I thought he was telling my story.
Other reviewers have already stated it, but 'Swag' really is some of his best writing and shows a mind that knows the material that's being covered. The is a work of desperation, strong prose and a well-thought out story that is indelible and lasting.
Excellent source for a film or a good place to begin with Elmore Leonard for the uninitiated. This is also long before his strong 'Pro-Police' position that he has now, and is quite interesting, historically and from a point of perspective -- looking back on how much he's written and how he's changed. Anyone familiar with Leonard's politics might find the impetus of the main character's motivations and the world he inhabits a bit 'telling', painting Leonard as a bit of a hypocrite now, or you can see it as I do, and just chalk it up as human-development.
Rated by buyers 
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Elmore Leonard has defined his career writing books like "Swag," amoral tales of shady characters with some buried honor finding themselves up against people who are just bad, swathed in an atmosphere of casual danger and tough, smooth talk. But Leonard has had a great career, and "Swag" is a terrific early example of what he does best.
Frank and Ernest meet when Ernest tries to steal a car at the lot where Frank works. Impressed by his moxie, Frank helps the thief out of a bind and then hits him with a proposition: How about we go after some big bucks?
What Frank has in mind is a little strong-arm wealth appropriation, and for a while it works out pretty well. Cruising through the suburbs of Detroit, the pair hit bars, supermarkets, and liquor stores, flashing their pistols just enough to get what they want. The story is fast-paced, exciting, and fun, with lots of vignettes of assorted crimes. Though not likely to resonate with the reader after, it's an impressive example of Leonard's mastery of the form. He gets us to actually care about these lowlifes and wish them well, even as they rob innocent people of their hard-earned cash.
Leonard does this by focusing on one of the pair, Ernest "Stick" Stickley. He's not enjoying the stick-up work, and thinks about leaving it for a chance to spend more time with his estranged daughter. But Stick has some things worth sticking around for, like the "career ladies" who hang around the pool where he and Frank Ryan live. To what extent can Stick trust Frank not to mess things up? Is Frank playing Stick for a fool? And why is he hanging around so much with the owner of a seedy nightclub?
Some reviewers here suggest this is like a Quentin Tarantino version of "The Odd Couple," which works for me. Though both men are more Oscar than Felix, we do see them in a number of amusing domestic arguments. There's that line from the TV show that comes back to me in thinking about this novel, Oscar telling Felix "Be cool." That's a standard mantra in Leonard books, and you can hear Stick telling Frank this on almost every page as the action heats up in the second half.
Before throwing them to the sharks, Leonard has fun figuring out how crime might indeed pay, as long as Frank and Stick follow Frank's ten simple rules for committing crimes. They're good rules, too. The problem is human nature being what it is, it's hard to stick with the program even when it's working, especially when you add booze, broads, and bullets to the mix.
Leonard actually saves a lot of his twists for the ending, one of the best he's ever written. It's hard not to call this a classic, but there are more involving Leonard books out there, and more suspenseful ones. Still, you can't do much better for whipsmart dialogue. He has a way of getting you to pay attention with a few small words, like by having one heavy ask a simple question like: "Why would a man want to die at his age?"
A book you can read in a single day, "Swag" has a lot going for it, the best being there's a lot more where it came from.
Rated by buyers -
Although it is hard to select Elmore's best work, for my money Swag is the one. Swag is funny, dramatic and tense at the same time. The humour is subtle, but is vintage Elmore. The tension carried thorughout the book is masterful. You really don't know until the final paragraph whether Ryan and Stick will get away or not. All in all, a tremendous book. I would recoomend Swag to any one who has not read any Elmore. Enjoy.
Rated by buyers -
Two small-time crooks (a guy who sells used cars and a guy who steals them) band together in early 70's Detroit and, with nothing better to do, decide to start holding up liquor stores, Quik-E Marts, and supermarkets. They establish a set of foolproof rules and make out like the proverbial bandits, stashing their loot under the sink and spending it on hysterically rendered period clothes, cars and stereos. Things go great until, of course, they begin to violate their own guidelines.
Fast, funny, violent, gritty, sexy and chock full of Leonard's trademark dialogue and twisty turns, this book skims along like a Tarantino movie writ long before Tarantino came about.
I'm a huge Elmore Leonard fan and this is my favorite of his books. I can't believe it's not more popular, can't believe it's actually OUT OF PRINT. Track it down used if you can, it's a true unheralded modern classic.
Rated by buyers -
After attempting PRONTO and GLITZ and not seeing what the Dutch Leonard hype was all about, I decided to give him one more chance with SWAG...and I was electrified to the point where it almost killed me. This book is incredible. Leonard creates such a glitzy, sleaze-filled atmosphere that you're there in Detroit, with Stick and Frank Ryan, feeling the rush and the tension of their risky escapades for that cold, purple swag. The dialogue is right-on; the plot and characters are nothing less than brilliant. This is the book that turned me on to Leonard and his numerous crime-filled novels of shimmering heat and the excitement of being bad.
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