The Big Bounce was published by Gold Medal/Fawcett as a paperback original in 1969, after being rejected by eighty-four publishers and production companies — a record that Leonard recounted with rueful amusement. Jack Ryan, a migrant worker and petty criminal, meets Nancy Hayes, the bored, reckless mistress of a wealthy landowner. They plan to rob the landowner’s house. The plan goes wrong.
The novel marks Leonard’s first attempt at contemporary crime fiction after a decade of Westerns, and while it lacks the assurance of his mature work, it introduces the Leonard method: spare prose, sharp dialogue, morally ambiguous characters, and a narrative voice that refuses to judge.
The Eighty-Four Rejections
Leonard dined out on the eighty-four rejection story for decades. The novel was originally a short story published in 1966 in Argosy; when Leonard expanded it, every major publisher and film producer turned it down. Gold Medal, the Fawcett paperback line, finally published it as a genre paperback. The rejections were not unreasonable — the novel is transitional, neither fully a Western nor fully a crime novel — but they make a good story about perseverance.
Nancy Hayes and the Femme Fatale
Nancy is Leonard’s first attempt at the dangerous woman — a type he would perfect in later novels. She is bored, amoral, and sexually aggressive, and she manipulates Jack for her own entertainment. The character is somewhat schematic — Leonard had not yet developed the psychological subtlety of his later female characters — but she introduces a pattern that would recur throughout his crime fiction: the woman who is smarter and more dangerous than the men around her realise.
Collecting The Big Bounce
First edition (1969, Gold Medal/Fawcett, New York): Paperback original.
Approximate market values:
- Paperback original, fine: $100–$300
- Good condition: $30–$75
- First hardcover (Robert Hale, UK, 1969): $200–$500
- Signed copies: rare — Leonard was not yet famous, and paperback originals are infrequently signed. $500–$1,500 when they appear.
Value trajectory (2016–2026): Strong appreciation as a scarce early Leonard. The paperback format makes fine copies unusually rare.
Projected values (2026–2036): Continued appreciation. Fine paperback originals should reach $400–$700. Signed copies are genuinely scarce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this worth reading? For Leonard completists, yes. For newcomers, start with Get Shorty or Out of Sight. The Big Bounce shows Leonard finding his voice — interesting historically but not representative of his best work.
Why was it rejected so many times? In the late 1960s, the crime fiction market was dominated by procedurals and spy novels. Leonard’s spare, character-driven style was out of fashion. The eighty-four rejections say more about the era’s publishing conventions than about the novel’s quality.