Jim Thompson – Page 3 – Cannonball Read 17

Oedipus and Electra

Cropper's Cabin by Jim Thompson

March 6, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

The year of Jim Thompson continues with what is by far the best book of his I’ve read this calendar year. It may be a cut below his truly greatest works like Pop. 1280 and The Grifters but it’s really darn good. I once heard Jason Concepcion of The Ringer fame compliment Quentin Tarantino by saying that the director “democratizes pop culture.” In other words, he takes B-movie stuff like gangster films and martial arts tales and turns them into high art. Thompson can perhaps be thought of in […]

Dirty Jobs

South of Heaven by Jim Thompson

February 11, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

The Year of Jim Thompson continues…with my least favorite version of his novels: the semi-autobiographical one that describes a job in granular detail and tries to shoehorn a crime story in. A great example of this is Nothing More Than Murder. I thought learning more about how the business of movie theater ownership worked in the 1940s would make for a compelling tale. I was wrong, very wrong. I don’t remember much about the crime story in that one but I do recall a lot about handling […]

In The Spider’s Web

Wild Town by Jim Thompson

January 8, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

The Year of Jim Thompson begins with what according to GoodReads is his most popular book that I have yet to read: Wild Town. While it had some bumps, it was good and reminded me of how much I love Thompson’s work, especially after the two I read last year were too vulgar (King Blood) and too dull (Now and On Earth). This is classic Thompson with a twist: a locked room mystery that hooks the prototypical Thompson sucker in a bind with the prototypical Thompson […]

The other reason…well, I wanted to see what you’d do.

After Dark, My Sweet by Jim Thompson

November 29, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

I’ve read a few Jim Thompson books (all audiobooks) and I would listen to every single one I could get my hands on if more were available. The stories (all weird, alluring, and violent) are attractive and compelling dips into some kind of petty underworld, and usually with a compelling narrator (at least four straight so far for me). This one dips into some heavy trope territory and as it’s 1955 you have to be willing to put up with some heavy bouts of misogyny […]

Something Rotten

The Criminal by Jim Thompson

September 14, 2019 by jeverett15 Leave a Comment

Jim Thompson is a crime writer with a knack for peering into the blackness of the human soul and not flinching in describing it to the reader. He’s probably best known as the writer of The Grifters, which was turned into a movie starring John Cusack and Anjelica Huston. There the focus was on con artists, criminals who rely on their cunning and their wits to stay ahead of the law. On the surface, The Criminal couldn’t be more different: the title character is a […]

California Dreamin’

Now and On Earth by Jim Thompson

March 18, 2019 by Jake Leave a Comment

If they accumulate a catalog of work large enough, every author/artist will have what are considered to be “lesser works.” And while occasionally, there’s a hidden gem buried in there or something that appeals specifically to the client, they’re called “lesser works” for a reason. I know a lot about Jim Thompson’s life and works but I didn’t know that Now And On Earth is 1. a semi-autobiography and 2. his very first book. It shows. We have an author with talent who doesn’t quite know what […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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