This is the second part of my two-part interview about Donald E. Westlake’s latest book, What's So Funny?

In a recent review of Christopher Buckley's new book I called Westlake one of the five funniest living fiction writers. The five are: Buckley, Westlake, Lisa Lutz, Frank Portman and - sometimes - Carl Hiaasen. I've now interviewed three of the five.

The best quote so far in the interview has been this: "Reality is stranger than fiction because God doesn't have to worry about being plausible."

In this book a shady New York City ex-cop forces Dortmunder to do a job he doesn’t want to do. The cop has proof that Dortmunder has committed crimes. As the office puts it, “If he were any more crooked, you could open wine bottles with him." If Dortmunder refuses the job he’ll be arrested and put in jail using the evidence provided by the ex-cop.

The problem? The job – retrieving a valuable chess set - is impossible. Plus, Dortmunder and his colleagues are not accustomed, let alone happy, about having police telling them what to do.

Here is the second part of the interview:

Scott: In what ways are you similar to John Dortmunder, your main character in the Dortmunder series?

Donald: John and I are both pessimists. That glass is definitely half empty. When you expect the worst, the only surprises you can get are happy ones. I remain astonished whenever anything actually works out, and so does John. I think we also share a doggedness, which comes out of the first quality. If you don't expect success, the only reason to go on is a blunt refusal to stop.

Scott: Do you create all of your characters out of pure cloth or are they based on people?

Donald: For me, the characters are part of the story, and come out of its development. I don't base them on people, or parts of people – the Frankenstein method. I base them on what I've noticed about the human race.

Scott: How did this particular story develop?

Donald: I cannot tell you how stories develop. I have an initial idea, and start telling myself the story, day by day. In this case, a cop was in the OJ, wanting to talk to John. Why? I had no idea, so I started the thing, and gradually found out.