Burke Hits the Big 7-0

Today is the 70th birthday of Texas-born James Lee Burke, best known as the author of the Dave Robicheaux mysteries. Burke’s first novel, a mainstreamer called Half of Paradise, was published in 1965 when the writer was in his 20s. The New York Times was quick to spot a good thing when its critic called the book an “impressive, passionate” debut. Even so, his next novel, To The Bright and Shining Sun, took another five years to appear.

And then, after his third book, Lay Down My Sword and Shield, reached bookstores in 1971, Burke experienced an even longer period out of print.

In a 2004 interview with Rap Sheet and January Magazine contributor Anthony Rainone, the novelist talked about that unanticipated rough patch in his career. In his opening to the January interview, Rainone summarized the story:

But then he experienced what for most novelists would have been a career-ending event--he went nine years “without publishing a hardback novel.” His completed manuscript at that time, The Lost Get Back Boogie, amassed more than 100 rejections, which still remains “a publishing industry record,” according to the author. During that dry spell, Burke managed to find a new agent in New York City and then did what many married men should probably do more often: he listened to the advice of his wife, Pearl, and as a result submitted his rejected novel to Louisiana State University Press, which finally accepted it. The Lost Get Back Boogie, published in 1986, went on to be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and earn Burke a valuable lifelong lesson, that success is “a fickle lady” and guaranteed to leave you just as fast as she arrives.

During more recent years, Burke has had little trouble getting published, and he’s written a book almost every year--some of them wildly celebrated--since 1985. Many have featured Robicheaux, Burke’s tough and beloved cop-turned-private snoop. Robicheaux is a Vietnam veteran and former New Orleans Police Department homicide detective, who lives in New Iberia, Louisiana, 125 miles west of New Orleans. The series began with The Neon Rain in 1987. Its most recent installment is Pegasus Descending, released last July.

In 1997, Burke introduced a second continuing protagonist, Billy Bob Holland, a troubled Texas Ranger turned defense lawyer. The Holland series, which began with Cimarron Rose and soon led to Heartwood (1999), was a critical success right off the blocks. Cimarron Rose earned Burke his second Edgar Award for Best Novel (with 1990’s Black Cherry Blues having won him his first), and In the Moon of Red Ponies (2004), which also featured Holland, was nominated for both the National Book Award and the 2004 Pulitzer Prize.

While we’ve been expecting James Lee Burke to bring us wonderful novels for a long, long time, in 2003 readers got a big surprise when he delivered a wonderful novelist in the form of daughter Alafair Burke. Alafair is a professor at Hofstra Law School and the author of the Samantha Kincaid novels, which began with Judgment Calls.