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A Purist's Reading List: Grofield & David Garrick

Actor David Garrick as Richard III, 1745 oil on canvas painting by William Hogarth.

Every now and again, Richard Stark allowed real life to intervene in the course of his novels. Of course, he dealt in a genre uniquely concerned with realism but one of the most entertaining details encountered in his work is the occasional introduction of real life books and magazines for the characters to interact with. Like The Mourner (1964) seven years before, Lemons Never Lie (1971) has one such instance.

In the sixth chapter of Part Three ('Moving'), Alan Grofield settles in for the night in his motel room to read a biography of English actor, playwright, theatrical manager and producer David Garrick.

Garrick is notable for revolutionizing nearly all aspects of theatre -- from naturalistic acting to guidelines for audience behavior to popularizing productions that included set design, costumes and special effects -- as well as being best-remembered for his portrayal of Richard III, which Grofield's book makes reference to via a quote from writer and literary critic Samuel Johnson.

Interestingly enough, two books on David Garrick had been reprinted in 1969 by Benjamin Blom, Inc. One of them is Memoirs of the Life of David Garrick, Esq.: Interspersed With Characters And Anecdotes Of His Theatrical Contemporaries by Thomas Davies, originally published in 1780. A closer look reveals no mention of the quote Stark references.

The other, however, is the helpfully-titled David Garrick. Written by Joseph Knight and originally published in 1894, it had also seen a 1969 reprint, and -- more importantly -- page 301 reveals the very quote Grofield had been so outraged by.

There is, unfortunately, no mention of whether Samuel Johnson had been 'put in his place'.

While it's no surprise that Grofield would be interested in Garrick's exploits, the real life existence of the book is certainly a great testament to the amount of care and research that'd gone into Stark's work.