Bangladesh, Dec. 3 -- "From Sea to Stormy Sea: 17 Stories Inspired by Great American Paintings," Pegasus Books, edited by Lawrence Block

Writers take their inspiration from a variety of sources: an unforgettable face, overheard conversation or perhaps, a painting.

The well-known crime writer Lawrence Block has parlayed that last scenario into two volumes of short stories, the first inspired by works of Edward Hopper and the second, favorite paintings of his authors.

Now he has come out with a third, "From Sea to Stormy Sea," an anthology of 17 stories that riff exclusively on American paintings, from Robert Henri's portrait of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney to Andy Warhol's mural for the 1964 World's Fair, "Thirteen Most Wanted Men," and ...