A lifelong fan of "hardboiled" fiction, Zevon was friendly with several well-known writers who also collaborated on his songwriting during this period, including Thompson, Carl Hiaasen and Mitch Albom.
An affiliated project for which Zevon both played and wrote liner notes is the offbeat 1998 album Stranger Than Fiction, a two-CD set attributed to the Wrockers containing rock covers and originals by many of the Remainders authors plus such notables as Norman Mailer and Maya Angelou.