Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘Brando’

What’s In A Name?

Mrs. Publicist: Fifteenth of the month, when we discuss a name from the Chet and Bernie series. Good morning, Pete. It’s eleven degrees out there so I’m assuming no bike ride today.

Pete: Don’t bet on it.

Mrs. Publicist: Hmm. Before you go then, what character name should we talk about today?

Spencer Quinn: How about Brando?

Mrs. P: The cat belonging to Thad Perry, the troubled and troublesome movie star in A Fistful of Collars?

Pete: Exactly.

Mrs. P: Described initially by Chet as follows: “Yes, a cat. Not particularly little, by the way, in fact, kind of monstrous.”

Pete: That’s the one. In terms of plot, Thad Perry turning out to be a cat person is a big red flag, certainly in Chet’s eyes. But the name itself says Hollywood, entitlement, self-satisfaction. Plus there was a feline aspect to Marlon Brando – I’d go so far as to say feminine, but let’s omit that – and that fit nicely. Of course Marlon Brando was one of those movie stars who was actually an artist, and Thad Perry turns out – maybe surprisingly – to be that type, too. So there you have it.

Mrs. P.: Thanks, Pete. Dress warm. See you next month for more of What’s In A Name!

What’s In A Name?

Mrs. Publicist: Fifteenth of the month, when Peter Abrahams aka Spencer Quinn discusses a character name from one of his books, often a Chet and Bernie. What’ll it be today?

Pete: How about Brando?

Mrs. P: The cat belonging to Thad Perry, the troubled and troublesome movie star in A Fistful of Collars, one of my favorite C&B’s?

Pete: Exactly.

Mrs. P: Described initially by Chet as follows: “Yes, a cat. Not particularly little, by the way, in fact, kind of monstrous.”

Pete: That’s the one. In terms of plot, Thad Perry turning out to be a cat person is a big red flag, certainly in Chet’s eyes. But the name itself says Hollywood, entitlement, self-satisfaction. Plus there was a feline aspect to Marlon Brando – I’d go so far as to say feminine, but let’s omit that – and that fit nicely. Of course Marlon Brando was one of those movie stars who was actually an artist, and Thad Perry turns out – maybe surprisingly – to be that type, too. So there you have it.

Mrs. P.: I can think of other feline-type movie stars, but are there any canine ones?

Pete: Steve Buscemi.

Mrs. P: Thanks, Pete. Maybe our readers can come up with some more. See you next month for more of What’s In A Name.

Beginnings

On Sundays we’ve been doing beginnings – all the Peter Abrahams books in chronological order, including those written under the Spencer Quinn pen name. Here (yes, on Monday) from 2013 – #29, A FISTFUL OF COLLARS, the fifth Chet and Bernie novel. (But does Chet care what order you read them in?) This is the Hollywood novel in the series. You will meet a cat named Brando.

[Amusing, intelligent and exciting… A fun romp through a genre that’s been around for decades but in the right hands (or paws) still has the power to entertain us.”
– Cesar’s Way]

“Heard you drove another one off a cliff,” said Nixon Panero. He spat a thin brown stream of chewing tobacco into an empty paint can, or maybe not that empty. Yellow paint, the yellow of egg yolks, now with a brown swirl in the middle: there’s all kinds of beauty in life.

“You heard wrong,” said Bernie.

Uh-oh. Bernie was looking at Nixon in an irritated sort of way. Wasn’t Nixon our buddy? True, Nixon’s eyes were too close together, even for a human, but he was one of the best mechanics in the Valley according to Bernie, and if Bernie said so then that was that, and besides, Nixon was also one of our top sources on the street, even though we once put him away for a year or so. Or maybe because of it! Anything’s possible with perps, believe me. We’ve taken down lots, me and my partner, Bernie. That’s what we do at the Little Detective Agency. He’s Bernie Little. I’m Chet, pure and simple.

What’s In A Name?

Ms. Publicist: We’re a day late with this feature, but it’s been a busy week, The Iggy Chronicles, Volume 1 coming out, etc. What character name from the Chet and Bernie series are we going to discuss today?

Spencer Quinn: How about Brando?

Ms. P: The cat belonging to Thad Perry, the troubled and troublesome movie star in A Fistful of Collars?

SQ: Exactly.

Ms. P: Described initially by Chet as follows: “Yes, a cat. Not particularly little, by the way, in fact, kind of monstrous.”

SQ: That’s the one. In terms of plot, Thad Perry turning out to be a cat person is a big red flag, certainly in Chet’s eyes. But the name itself says Hollywood, entitlement, self-satisfaction. Plus there was a feline aspect to Marlon Brando – I’d go so far as to say feminine, but let’s omit that – and that fit nicely. Of course Marlon Brando was one of those movie stars who was actually an artist, and Thad Perry turns out – maybe surprisingly – to be that type, too. So there you have it.

Ms. P.: Thanks, Spence. See you Sept. 15 for What’s In A Name. By that time The Sound and the Furry will be out, so maybe we can pick a name from that.

SQ: It never hurts to say maybe.