Remembering Mickey Spillane

Mickey Spillane died Monday at the age of 88. Spillane was the author of the Mike Hammer novels, and was known as a graphic and pretty hard-boiled writer. He made no bones about the fact that he wrote for the masses, and more to the point, for the money.

My father has always loved Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer books. "We lost another giant," he said to me tonight. Then he went on to describe some of the more entertaining moments from the books... (I'm quoting my father, who is loosely quoting his memory of two of his favorite scenes)

In one, he explains what happens when you stick a shotgun in the mud and then take it out and try to shoot someone with it. The gun explodes in your face and blows your head apart, plastering your eyeballs to the side of the barn where they can look down at your dead body.

In another, he describes the damage done by a close range shot to the back of the head from a 44. The hole in the back is small and clean. But on the other side, the hole is so big you could stick your head all the way in and look around without getting your ears wet.

With images like these in print, who needs dead teenager movies?

Mickey Spillane Dies at 88