The Deep Blue Good-by
First edition cover
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| Author | John D. MacDonald |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Travis McGee |
| Genre | Mystery novel |
| Publisher | Fawcett Publications |
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Publication date
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1964 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 320 pp (Mass Market Paperback) |
| ISBN | (Paperback) |
| OCLC | 32512809 |
| Followed by | Nightmare in Pink |
The Deep Blue Good-by is the first of 21 novels in the Travis McGee series by American author John D. MacDonald. Commissioned in 1964 by Fawcett Publications editor Knox Burger, the book establishes for the series an investigative protagonist in a residential Florida base. All titles in the 21-volume series include a color, a mnemonic device which was suggested by his publisher so that when harried travelers in airports looked to buy a book, they could at once see those MacDonald titles they had not yet read. (MacDonald also included color in a further two unrelated novels: A Flash of Green and The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything.)
MacDonald was also quoted stating that he considered all the novels in the McGee series as one long story in many installments on the life and times of Travis McGee. As such, The Deep Blue Good-by is a good starting point for new readers interested in the series. While each of the 21 novels adds more information on the history, background and psyche of McGee, one of the more interesting aspects of the series is seeing him mature, evolve and age through the decades. At the same time, we see the American culture change, from the Kennedy years in The Deep Blue Good-bye through the upheaval of hippie counterculture and the sexual revolution of the late 60s and 70s until the last book in the series at the end of the Reagan years in the mid-80s. As a chronicler of the cultural zeitgeist, MacDonald has been compared favorably with Charles Dickens. Reading the McGee novels in sequence therefore gives the reader a fascinating experience of seeing McGee change through the decades as American culture also changes.
When MacDonald created the character, he was to be called Dallas McGee, after the city, but after the Kennedy assassination he decided that name had too many negative connotations. He was searching for a first name for McGee when a friend suggested that he look at the names of the many Air Force bases in California. MacDonald's attention was caught by Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, and so he named his character Travis.
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