# Ira Levin dies. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ira-levin-dies/426404 "2007-11-14T19:22:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ira-levin-dies/426404/1 "2007-11-14T19:22:46Z")
I didn’t see a thread about this yet (kind of surprised by that actually.) So here - The author of “Rosemary’s Baby”, “the Stepford Wives” and “the Boys from Brazil” died last night. Here’s the [NYTimes](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin) obit. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ira-levin-dies/426404/2 "2007-11-14T21:21:47Z")
Oh, that is a shame. I got turned onto him kind of late, funny enough by Stephen King’s _On Writing_. In that book, King mentions _A Kiss Before Dying \* as the best book to confound those people who flip to the end of the book to find out the ending._ He said if you read the ending of that book, it won’t mean that much, as the middle of the book is where the big surprise is. Intrigued, I borrowed the book from the library, and as I’m reading, I’m thinking, “Okay, is that the surprise…oh, that must the the surprise…HOLY FUCK WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!” I liked it enough to go grab \*Rosemary’s Baby \* (the movie was very true to it), _Stepford Wives_, and _Sliver_. \*You know who you are. You disgust me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ira-levin-dies/426404/3 "2007-11-14T21:39:04Z")
I still say \*This Perfect Day \* was his best book. Pity it was never made into a movie. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ira-levin-dies/426404/4 "2007-11-14T21:55:36Z")
_Deathtrap_ is still my favorite thriller of all time. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ira-levin-dies/426404/5 "2007-11-14T21:58:52Z")
[QUOTE=LonesomePolecat] I still say \*This Perfect Day \* was his best book. Pity it was never made into a movie. [/QUOTE] I agree with you, but apparently the brother-fighting haters in the film industry don’t see it that way. (Seriously, I’d like to see a movie version too; but the way such things go, we’d either get an extended skin flick — let’s face it, there’s a _lot_ of casual nudity, including some of children — or the **Starship Troopers** version.) ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ira-levin-dies/426404/6 "2007-11-15T01:26:37Z")
\*Rosemary’s Baby \*is one of my all-time favorite books. (And \*\*Ivylass \*\*is right about the movie.) I think I’d better go check a copy of _A Kiss Before Dying_ out of the library. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ira-levin-dies/426404/7 "2007-11-15T01:33:30Z")
He never stabbed his wife with a penknife, right? Good. Liked his writing. RIP.