---
product_id: 4372067
title: "Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1970s (LOA #255): Fifty-Two Pickup / Swag / Unknown Man No. 89 / The Switch (Library of America Elmore Leonard Edition)"
brand: "elmore leonardgregg sutter"
price: "A$97"
currency: AUD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 12
url: https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/4372067-elmore-leonard-four-novels-of-the-1970s-loa-255-fifty
store_origin: AU
region: Australia
---

# Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1970s (LOA #255): Fifty-Two Pickup / Swag / Unknown Man No. 89 / The Switch (Library of America Elmore Leonard Edition)

**Brand:** elmore leonardgregg sutter
**Price:** A$97
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1970s (LOA #255): Fifty-Two Pickup / Swag / Unknown Man No. 89 / The Switch (Library of America Elmore Leonard Edition) by elmore leonardgregg sutter
- **How much does it cost?** A$97 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.au](https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/4372067-elmore-leonard-four-novels-of-the-1970s-loa-255-fifty)

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## Description

Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1970s (LOA #255): Fifty-Two Pickup / Swag / Unknown Man No. 89 / The Switch (Library of America Elmore Leonard Edition)

## Images

![Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1970s (LOA #255): Fifty-Two Pickup / Swag / Unknown Man No. 89 / The Switch (Library of America Elmore Leonard Edition) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41QrA+0nARL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    If it looks like writing, rewrite it!
  

*by H***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 29, 2015*

The Library of America has selected another 20th century crime writer, after Chandler, Hammett, and Goodis, for a selected works publication: Elmore Leonard has joined the club. An acceptable choice.All 4 novels in this 1970s volume are set in Detroit. The volume begins with '52 Pickup', from 1974. Main character is an entrepreneur in car part fabrication, a solid family man in his forties. Business is a struggle. At home things seem to be ok. The marriage is doing fine, but still... He cheats. He gets blackmailed. He tries to be smart, but the bad boys up the ante... So does their victim. A power game begins. Violence occurs.The story has been filmed with Roy Scheider, not too successfully.Next comes 'Swag', 1976. A car salesman and a car thief get together for a start up venture in armed robbery. They succeed, for a while. They are tempted by hubris and want to upgrade their enterprise for higher harvests. They team up with others, and things go down the drain. They learn to their disadvantage that one should always listen to instincts which tell you to get out of there, and that it is better to stick to one's personal Ten Commandments.Then 'Unknown Man No.89', 1977. A professional process server gets hired by a shady character to find an even shadier one, allegedly for the purpose of good news. The case stinks, but our man is tempted by the promise of high reward. One search leads to another, and the man finds himself, a bit unexpectedly, concerned on a personal basis. He shows human feelings. The story is a little slow in building up, but reaches moments of high suspense.Then 'The Switch', 1978. Rich man's wife gets kidnapped for ransom. Things don't go as planned. The goons hadn't done their market research and misunderstood the lay of the land. The marriage was on the rocks from page 1 onwards. A film was made with Jennifer Aniston and Tim Robbins, called Life of Crime, not a great success. Frankly, that is not surprising. The novel doesn't make good use of a good idea, so why should the movie?Leonard developed a dry, sarcastic, but moderate tone for his crime tales. No hilarious rambunctiousness, no madhouse fun. Just relaxed, matter of fact understatement, using short, precise language. There is no flourishing description. Things are done or said. Things happen. Brilliant economy of words. People are not described much, except through the eyes of others. Leonard had a peculiar way of shifting the perspective from one person to the other. A key word for Leonard's moral stance: ambiguity. His protagonists are rarely quite sure about their values and preferences. That adds a nice touch of unpredictability.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Elmore Leonard’s characters, dialogue and writing make the best American crime novels ever.
  

*by S***N on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 16, 2021*

4 Leonard novels in one book from Library of America - it doesn’t get better - unless you get the complete set.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Four Early Novels by a grand masrter of the crime novel
  

*by J***D on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 9, 2015*

These four novels by Elmore Leonard reinvented the crime novel. No one possessed a deeper gift for black humored irony, a sharper ear for dialogue, or the sheer ability to create believable plots out of elaborate "cons" than did Elmore Leonard. Leonard's world of petty criminals, plucky housewives shine brightly in the world of contemporary literature.Fifty Two Pickup features a philandering businessman who gets in over his head with a murderous crew of blackmailers Leonard leaves the resolution in doubt throughout the novel.Swag is a comic view of two hedonistic armed robbers in search of the good lif. Swag introduces the not-too bright Ernest Stickley, a n anti-hero Leonard will return to in later novels like Road Dogs..The Switch features one of EL's most finely drawn comic heroines as she turns the tables on her would-be kidnappers and  her ex-husband alike.

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*Product available on Desertcart Australia*
*Store origin: AU*
*Last updated: 2026-02-23*