# Get Shorty

By Elmore Leonard · Chili Palmer, book 1

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/get-shorty-5c4e0698/

Chili Palmer goes west to collect on a loan and winds up talking pictures with Harry Zimm, a producer of cheap horror movies. Chili has spent years getting people to pay up. In Hollywood, that turns out to be useful experience for getting a movie made.

## What makes it funny?

Chili’s feud with Ray Bones starts when Bones takes his leather jacket. The amount of violence two grown men can wring out of a missing coat sets the book’s deadpan pitch.

### The comedy at work

Zimm needs help with movie investors who also deal drugs. Leonard puts Chili in a business where intimidating people over money counts as a skill you can take from one job to the next.

### Try this if…

Go for this one if you like crime stories that follow the money into another line of work. Leonard makes room for pieces of an actual shooting script as Chili and Zimm work on the picture.

### Good to know

Expect gun violence and strong language. The novel was the basis for the 1995 film.

## What to expect

- Genre: Crime & thriller
- On the shelf: Comic noir
- Kind of humor: Dry wit · Satire
- The atmosphere: Irreverent
- Format: Novel
- Published: 1990

## A few distinguishing details

- A loan shark in the low-budget movie business

## Sources & further reading

- Author commentary: [Elmore Leonard official book page and excerpt](https://www.elmoreleonardofficial.com/books/get-shorty)
- Publisher: [Hachette paperback and ebook](https://www.hachette.com.au/elmore-leonard/get-shorty)
- Review: [Time review](https://time.com/archive/6715644/books-real-tinsel)
- Review: [Kirkus review](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elmore-leonard/get-shorty)
- Library catalog: [Open Library Delacorte edition](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL2203986M/Get_Shorty)
- Author commentary: [Fresh Air interview with Elmore Leonard](https://freshairarchive.org/segments/novelist-elmore-leonard-his-sequel-get-shorty)