Comments on: The Dangerous Dwarf

The Dangerous Dwarf

lupus_yonderboy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:25:51 -0800

Mongo the Magnificent. "Out of nowhere, believing that it is good for the soul to have one insane idea a day, whether you need it or not, the notion of a dwarf private detective came to me [...] I considered such a character bizarre and absurd, unworkable and unpublishable, and thus a waste of time to spend and length of time trying to develop it. I kept searching, but the damn dwarf just wouldn't go away. [...] It was to be a satire. Halfway through, I discovered a key to the man's character was a simple quest to be taken seriously, for dignity. That touched me, and I started over again, this time doing it "straight" (or as straight as I'm able). I gave Mongo dignity, and in return he gave me a career. The diverse background was, I thought, necessary in order to properly equip him in a "world of giants"."

George C. Chesbro, RIP

I'm not a great fan of mysteries (though I've read all of Holmes and most of Agatha Christie at various points), but I picked up one of Chesbro's books one day many years ago and it grew on me as I read it, they're subtle but strange and sweet (even though he puts that poor dwarf through the most horrific experiences, electrical tortures, sensory deprivation tanks, rabies and cholera). I randomly found his site tonight and saw that he died a few days ago... but also found out that he was a success with self-publishing, and that he continued Mongo on into stranger worlds in new books I haven't read yet.

By: lupus_yonderboy

lupus_yonderboy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:28:18 -0800

(And I know that this has been seen here before and is only tenuously related but I still want to gratuituously direct you to this incredibly entertaining story, A Study In Emerald, which I ran into again while preparing this.)

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:32:20 -0800

I've already had two insane ideas today. Ah... tomorrow I can take a vacation.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00:42 -0800

Well, if you can judge a book by its cover, then Shadow of a Broken Man is a great book. On the other hand, The Beasts of Valhalla is a piece of hack crap. ...he was a success with self-publishing... That's inspiring and good to hear.

By: gman

gman — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:20:32 -0800

Mongo the Magnificent Wasn't he in There's Something About Mary?

By: BT

BT — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:29:59 -0800

I had no idea -- looks fascinating. Thanks, Lupus.

By: willmize

willmize — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:43:44 -0800

. Loved the Mongo books; Chesbro was one of many influences on my own mystery writing. I didn't know the self-publishing angle, I'll have to check that out, as I publish my own, too. Rest in peace.

By: leahwrenn

leahwrenn — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:56:13 -0800

I'd forgotten about those. Thanks for the reminder---and I'm sorry to hear Chesbro died.

By: Aversion Therapy

Aversion Therapy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:06:08 -0800

I'm a huge Mongo fan and I had no idea that Chesbro had died. I'll have to go back and do some re-reading I suppose. .

By: adipocere

adipocere — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:06:23 -0800

I believe the self-publishing was recent. It certainly made his books harder to find — I had no idea he was coming out with new Mongo stuff until I went looking for it. Same Mongo, could have used a little more editor. The Mongo stuff was often, though not always, mixed with something out of science fiction, a light touch of something paranormal, but you never knew until you were a ways into it, which added some extra fun to it. Some of the older book covers were quite surreal and eye-catching. I recall that's what got me to pick one up in the first place. If you liked Mongo, you'd love Bone, too. Even his novelization for The Golden Child was good. Most novelizations of movies hurt to read, but not his.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:38:11 -0800

I read the novelization of The Golden Child many years ago and I remember to this day that it was quite good. Thanks for the post.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:37:54 -0800

Wasn't there talk of Peter Dinklage playing Mongo? What happened to that?

By: maurice

maurice — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:48:19 -0800

Seconding the recommendation of Bone. I thought that one was fascinating.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:06:26 -0800

I'm always up for a new mystery series. Which book should I start with?

By: dersins

dersins — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:24:48 -0800

Wasn't there talk of Peter Dinklage playing Mongo? What happened to that? I think there's a script lodged firmly in development purgatory. From what I've heard it's pretty awful.

By: dersins

dersins — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:25:00 -0800

Oh, and .

By: mogget

mogget — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:38:19 -0800

. I enjoyed his books very much. Corpse in the library, the bookslut link recommends starting with Shadow of a Broken Man.

By: motdiem2

motdiem2 — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:25:27 -0800

By: humannaire

humannaire — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:40:33 -0800

My name is Mongo.