Already an established and successful writer, MacDonald was persuaded to create a franchise c McGee first appeared in the 1964 novel The Deep Blue Good-by and was last seen in The Lonely Silver Rain in 1985. In 1980, the McGee novel The Green Ripper won the National Book Award. The people whom Travis McGee could analyze so well? Well, of course he could, since they were familiar types, cardboard cutouts of people. That's easy to see in retrospect.

Christian Bale Eyed to Play Travis McGee in 'The Deep Blue Good-By' ". thewrap.com. July 15, 2014 . Retrieved July 17, 2014. Travis McGee is a private hardboiled troubleshooter… He is tough but compassionate… He boasts nitty-gritty wisdom… He scorns the system… One day I was having a conversation with my good friend and fellow GR member, Cathy DuPont, and she kept talking about this guy called Trav. The way she spoke about him led me to believe that he was a very good friend of hers, a Floridian neighbour, and an all-round wonderful guy. It seemed that they'd known each other for some time. Cathy was clearly smitten with him. Heavily influenced by Hemingway, MacDonald began his career as a pulp writer. In creating his memorable Travis McGee series the author - using a mastery of words and economy - fashioned colorful and evil villains, a flawed hero Travis McGee, numerous salvage exploits, plenty of gorgeous girlfriends, well crafted plots, as well as beautiful philosophical musings that describe the overall changes to Florida spanning the years 1964 - 1985. In this he appears to have created the fundamental root of a lot that has followed in this genre. I should caution against picturing Travis as a knight in shining armor. He is quite rusty and amoral, both in his methods of obtaining information which don't rule out torture and intimidation, and in his own predatory interest in women.I'm a huge fan of suspense fiction, absolutely loving the surprising and unexpected twists and turns. I've read (and re-read) a lot in this genre over the years, but John D MacDonald (JDM) had escaped me. I'm not sure why. I had heard of the movie "Cape Fear", which was adapted from JDM's book The Executioners, but for some reason I knew nothing of his pulp fiction series about Travis McGee. What’s it about? McGee helps recover a lost fortune in stolen goods to help a friend and Allen is the gold hoarding dragon who must first be bested. This comparison to knights errant and romanticism is intentional, MacDonald has drawn McGee to be the last of the free romantics in a world growing increasingly more mechanized and impersonal. And he wrote it in 1964!

All these women, thoroughbred or common, whole or corrupt, are of one sort, although one minor (possibly continuing) character may be native American. Travis McGee is a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He’s also a knight-errant who’s wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: He’ll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half. Critics may charge that Trav represents an outdated and politically incorrect view of masculinity, and they may be right. But perhaps this misses the point. Yes, Trav is a womaniser much like James Bond or early Spenser. And yes, woman are miraculously restored by his testosterone-soaked presence. And yes, this makes Trav an anachronism. But so does McGee’s disgust at the rapacious development of South Florida or dislike of everything from credit cards to the limited opportunities women have in life. In one classic rant, Trav muses: "The scene is reputed to be acrawl with adorably amoral bunnies to whom sex is a pleasant social favor. The new culture. And they are indeed present and available, in exhaustive quantity, but there is a curious tastelessness about them. A woman who does not guard and treasure herself cannot be of much value to anyone else. They become a pretty little convenience, like a guest towel.” Trav is a man who refuses to change much of anything. He thoughtfully but forcefully maintains his independent life, a life of action that makes for brisk reading and also begins to weigh on Trav, I am told, by the end of the series. The story is what it is, a not entirely good guy is hired to collect something not entirely legal in whatever way he sees fit. Along the way he encounters many broads in very little clothing, described with great affection. There's a bad guy and some not so good guys, a showdown and some interesting detection all padded out with discussions on the state of society and actions designed to make Travis seem like a much friendlier yet conflicted guy than he initially appears. Now, sometimes, this "psychiatrist" offers--and receives--sexual therapy from the women he encounters, to everyone's better health and happiness. He shows discretion, though--reluctant to take advantage. Sometimes.Cathy has been morally violated by a ruthless man, and when she gets Travis McGee involved, he discovers more victims in even worse case. Article from Elle magazine 2017) How Playboy's Unsung Female Photographer Broke into the Boys' Club and Took Them All for a Ride The Deep Blue Good-by is the first of 21 novels in the Travis McGee series by American author John D. MacDonald. [2]

A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be welcome to return and tie up the gaping loose end Box leaves. The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read. She was a tall and slender woman, possibly in her early thirties. Her skin had the extraordinary fineness of grain, and the translucence you see in small children and fashion models. In her fine long hands, delicacy of wrists, floating texture of dark hair, and in the mobility of the long narrow sensitive structuring of her face there was the look of something almost too well made, too highly bred, too finely drawn for all the natural crudities of human existence.” Justin Kroll (26 February 2015). "Rosamund Pike Lands Female Lead in 'The Deep Blue Goodbye' - Variety". Variety. This was my first journey into the world of Travis McGee. Boy, howdy, what a fun and fine trip! John D MacDonald’s writing is right up there with the best. Not only is this a great story, but MacDonald’s use of the English language is something akin to Chet Baker’s work with a trumpet. Pure magic.Más allá de la investigación, hay una hermosa historia de amor. Diría que, casi casi, es la trama principal y que el resto se desarrolla a partir del amor tan tierno y tan complicado que surge entre ellos. I love the early 1960's Florida keys setting. MacDonald's flowing and spare descriptive prose is wonderful, almost like the words don't exist, as if MacDonald just places the images directly into your mind. Very Hemingway. Truly amazing. The action is pretty well done & quite believable. McGee can take care of himself & he's a pretty big guy, but he's no superman. He lives aboard a house boat, so there is a lot of marine action off the Florida coast, too. It all seems pretty accurate to me & not terribly dated. Oh, it's set firmly in the 60's but he's a fairly progressive sort.

The novel is pretty dated with McGee coming across as both a womanizing sexist and a white knight there to defend damsels in distress. As I mentioned earlier this novel was written in the 1960's and it feels it with John D. MacDonald offering sharp writing that works as both crime story and social commentary with McGee rebelling against the consumerist and conformist society that he despises. I wouldn’t say they were awful; just not good as Travis McGee movies. The first had the huge problem of Rod Taylor as Travis; no offense to Taylor fans, but he was absolutely the wrong actor for the part. Sam Elliott is fine as Travis in the second movie, yet it suffers from the fact that the makers so completely misunderstood the Travis Ethos that they shifted the action from Florida to California, the Busted Flush became a natty, expensive yacht, and so on. I’ve always felt the second movie is a reasonably okay movie so long as you can persuade yourself beforehand that it’s not a Travis McGee movie but about some other PI. Callowell was a pilot who served with Berry for a time. George Brell was one of Berry's partners. Angie is Brell's miserable little girl; Gerry is his trophy wife. Lew Dagg is the jerk of a football player who thought he could take Travis on. Reality is in the enduring eyes, the unspoken dreadful accusation in the enduring eyes of a worn young woman who looks at you, and hopes for nothing.

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She had high small breasts, and she was very long-waisted. The long limber torso widened into chunky hips and meaty thighs.” (Every woman in this story gets a similar deconstruction.) The relationship between Travis and Chook is wonderful, honest, loving, respectful, sexy, natural. The prose is open and honest and spare with good pacing. A delightful way to begin this first-of-series Travis McGee. It's clear than even in 1962, MacDonald is a proto-feminist. His instincts are honourable yet sexy, respectful but powerful. Awesome!