Erle Stanley Gardner

The Case of the Real Perry Mason

by Dorothy B. Huges

William Morrow & Company, New York, 1978. Red boards with gold lettering. Dust jacket. 350 pages. B&W illustrations.

Dorothy B. Hughes,  a prolific author and critic, was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1978.

It's almost hard to imagine that anyone who wrote this many books in his lifetime was so well liked and respected by virtually everyone. The book is profusely illustrated, and shows Gardner at ease with friends and associates everywhere ... but especially in the great outdoors, where hunting, fishing, camping and exploring were his great passions. Numerous letters, quoted throughout, illustrate how he struggled through the early years of pulp writing (during is 20-year legal career), how he was turned down by book publishers early on, and how he eventually emerged as one of the greatest American mystery writers of all time. The book talks of sales totaling one-third BILLION copies of his 141 books --  and that was thirty years ago! Many, many of them are still in print. There's a great bibliography in the back of the book.