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Biography
American

John D. MacDonald

1916 — 1986

John D. MacDonald was one of the most prolific and skilled American crime novelists of the twentieth century. His Travis McGee series — twenty-one novels beginning with The Deep Blue Good-by (1964) — features a self-described 'salvage consultant' operating from a houseboat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His standalone thriller The Executioners (1957, filmed as Cape Fear) and his non-mystery novel Condominium (1977) demonstrate his range. He was one of the few genre writers to earn the respect of literary critics.

Past sales0
Period20th Century
NationalityAmerican
1. Biography

A short life of the author

John Dann MacDonald (1916–1986) was born on 24 July 1916 in Sharon, Pennsylvania. He served in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II and began writing pulp fiction after the war, eventually producing over seventy novels and more than five hundred short stories.

Life and Career

MacDonald’s Travis McGee series — each title containing a colour in its name — is one of the great achievements of American series fiction. McGee lives on a houseboat called The Busted Flush (won in a poker game) at Bahia Mar Marina in Fort Lauderdale. He recovers stolen property for a fifty-percent fee and delivers social commentary on the destruction of Florida’s environment and the moral decay of American consumer culture.

The Executioners (1957) — about a family terrorised by a released convict — was filmed twice as Cape Fear (1962 and 1991). Condominium (1977) — about Florida’s hurricane-vulnerable development boom — was a bestseller.

Stephen King wrote a famous introduction to MacDonald’s work calling him “the great entertainer of our age.”

Major Works and Themes

MacDonald wrote about the corruption of the American landscape — both physical and moral. His Florida is a paradise being destroyed by developers, con men, and indifference. His plotting is tight, his characterisation psychologically acute, and his social criticism genuinely incisive.

Key Works

  • The Executioners (1957)
  • The Deep Blue Good-by (1964) — first McGee
  • The Lonely Silver Rain (1985) — last McGee
  • Condominium (1977)

Collecting MacDonald

MacDonald published extensively in paperback. The Deep Blue Good-by (1964, Fawcett Gold Medal, paperback original) brings $20–$60 in fine condition. First hardcover editions (later Lippincott reprints) are also collected. MacDonald died in 1986. Signed copies are moderately scarce.