Elmore Leonard: Michael Connelly hails the book world's king of cool

An Appreciation: Michael Connelly, bestselling author of the Harry Bosch books, on being under the influence of the late Elmore Leonard.

I never wanted to be Raymond Chandler. I wanted to be Philip Marlowe. I never wanted to be Ross Macdonald. I wanted to be Lew Archer. Elmore Leonard was the only author I ever wanted to be. Leonard outsized his characters with his easy charm, sardonic humor and seen-it-all-before eyes. When it came to books, Elmore Leonard was the king of cool. Who wouldn't want to be him?

via Books - latimes.com http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/features/books/~3/o5_4iGsB75Q/la-et-jc-elmore-leonard-appreciation-20130821,0,2385864.story