I am currently reading “Bye Bye Baby” the latest (I think) Spenser book, now written by Ace Atkins. It takes place in (relatively close to) current time. The Spenser character has been around a long time. He’s gotta be pushing 70 if we follow continuity. Can we pinpoint what his age should be?
Whoa! Back up! Find a copy of The Godwulf Manuscript, and after that, start reading them in published order. Parker was my favorite author after the death of John D. MacDonald (actually some overlap) and it was a pretty fair run before I started to tire of the rote delivery, ho-hum “gotta crank out another one”.
I forget when I pooped out on Spenser, but it wasn’t until after Parker had gotten a start on Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone; the first few of these are worth a read. As I say, I don’t recall when I ran out of gas, but I really looked forward to each new release; you’ll find your own limit. My limit definitely didn’t extend to the authors who are enriching themselves and the estate; I’ve read some of those.
Oh, and as for Spenser’s age? I’d guess about late twenties when he started in 1973, and fifties when I quit around 2000 and a bit.
Dan
I read the OP title differently.
What would a 70 year old Spenser be like? He can’t still be kicking ass. Would he even live to 70? Be in prison for some case that went bad? Turn into a smart mild mannered detective like Barnaby Jones? I assume Susan is still pining away, still just a girlfriend.
And what happened to Hawk?
I’m not really sure what you’re objecting to. I just want to agree on a chronology. By your own estimation, Spenser would be about 72 today. That’s not the way he’s written.
Our heroes don’t age on our timescale. It seemed to me that, toward the end of my reading, Spenser was slowing down. I was still pretty active in my 50’s, and I didn’t work at it. But I get your gripe - I was just guessing at his calendar age when I gave up on him.
So, Spenser’s in his fifties, forever, now. Is there a market for a for a dick who has to be careful of his knees?
Fiction, don’cha know?
JAQ, good questions - I think Travis McGee was starting to feel his age at the end. But I really don’t know where Spenser’s character has gone in the last 15+ years, so…
It’s fiction; I got nothing else. Except to say that I’m crowding 80, and I feel that some days I could do serious damage to evildoers. The feeling can last 'till about noon, and fades with the nap.
Dan
The technical terms for this are “floating timeline” and “sliding timescale”
For a max age. Henry Cimoli fought Willie Pep between 1947 and 1950.
If Pep coaches them age 16 to 19 from 1951 to 1954. Spenser’s max age would be 87, born in 1935.
That’s what I’m looking for. Not saying it’s 100% accurate, but it’s using references.
For a minimum. Spenser was also in Korea (1950 to 1953).
If he entered the military at 17 with permission and spent 1953 in Korea at age 18 that would still put him at 87 born in 1935.
ETA: I guess that’s my answer.
He’s still doing a lot of pushups for 87… 
Yeah, I read an Ace Atkins one a month back and enjoyed it.
If you like Spenser novels, Robert Crais writes a series with Elvis Cole and Pike. They were in Vietnam and also seem to be in their late 30’s
Yeah, love those too.
Crais is a great author, but he likes to grab ideas. If you like the standalone Pike books then I hope you also read Lee Child’s Reacher books.
If you like all three then give me some authors because I’m out. Those authors are my perfect recreational reading and I’ve read everything they have.
I’m need to correct myself. I looked up Willie Pep and he held the title twice. The first time was in 1942. Henry could have fought Willie Pep for the title at two different points but it wouldn’t make Spencer any younger.
Spenser is pushing 40 in The Godwulf Manuscript, published in 1973. I want to say 37, but don’t quote me. He complains about feeling old, with 40 creeping up.
John Sandford, Craig Johnson, CJ Box, William Kent Kreugher, Paul Doiron.
Spenser, The Godwulf Manuscript, 1973,Chapter 1: “I’m thirty-seven years old and short on rah-rah, Dr. Forbes. If you’ll pay me, and do your Pat O’Brien impressions somewhere else, I’ll see if I can find the manuscript.”
John D. MacDonald said somewhere that McGee aged at about 2/3 the speed as the rest of us
Semi hijack, but same series, and I’m curious:
Was her anorexia ever addressed? I read a few of the Spenser books years ago, and quit doing so in part because it was bugging me that she ate less and less with every book, to the point at which it was obvious that there was some sort of problem, but the author seemed to be presenting it as just a character quirk.
(Note: it’s been a long time since I read any of these, and it’s possible my memory is faulty on the subject.)
I met Parker at a booksigning thing in Syracuse in the late 1980s and I alerted him to the problems an aging Spenser would soon face. He wasn’t impressed with my argument.
I should say that Spenser and Hawk (and most of the ancillary characters in the series) are among my favorites and I have no quarrel with their continuance.