The Good Old Stuff

The Good Old Stuff is a collection of 13 of John D. MacDonald's early-career (1947-1952) short stories, all of which were previously published in magazines like Doc Savage, Detective Tales, and New Detective. "Murder for Hire," the first story, is excellent, but the rest are generally of mixed quality. MacDonald also made the unnecessary decision to "update" his stories and incorporate more recent cultural references into the text (e.g., The Johnny Carson Show, Superman, etc.). Does anyone read Dashiell Hammett or James M. Cain today and wish their stories had more modern references? Of course not.