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Search - List of Books by Jim Thompson

James Myers Thompson (September 27, 1906, Anadarko, Oklahoma Territory - April 7, 1977, Los Angeles, California) was an America author and screenwriter, known for his pulp crime fiction.

Thompson wrote more than thirty novels, the majority of which were original paperback publications by pulp fiction houses, from the late-1940s through mid-1950s. Despite some positive critical notice, notably by Anthony Boucher in The New York Times, he was little-recognized in his lifetime. Only after death did Thompson's literary stature grow, when in the late 1980s, several novels were re-published in the Black Lizard series of re-discovered crime fiction.

Thompson's writing culminated in a few of his best-regarded works: The Killer Inside Me, Savage Night, A Hell of a Woman and Pop. 1280. In these works, Thompson turned the derided pulp genre into literature and art, featuring unreliable narrators, odd structure, and surrealism. A number of Thompson's books became popular films, including The Getaway and The Grifters.

The writer R.V. Cassill has suggested that of all pulp fiction, Thompson's was the rawest and most harrowing; that neither Dashiell Hammett nor Raymond Chandler nor even Horace McCoy, author of the bleak They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, ever "wrote a book within miles of Thompson". Similarly, in the introduction to Now and on Earth, Stephen King says he most admires Thompson's work because "The guy was over the top. The guy was absolutely over the top. Big Jim didn't know the meaning of the word stop. There are three brave lets inherent in the forgoing: he let himself see everything, he let himself write it down, then he let himself publish it."

Thompson admired Fyodor Dostoyevsky and was nicknamed "Dimestore Dostoevsky" by writer Geoffrey O'Brien. Film director Stephen Frears, who directed an adaptation of Thompson's The Grifters as 1990's The Grifters, also identified elements of Greek tragedy in his themes.

Life and Career   more

Style   more

Film Adaptations   more

Cultural References   more

Major Works   more

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Jim Thompson", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 244
The Essential M1 Garand A Practical and Historical Guide for Shooters and Collectors
Une jolie poupe
2017 - Une Jolie Poupe (Other)
ISBN-13: 9782743638764
ISBN-10: 2743638761
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Nuit de fureur
2016 - Nuit De Fureur (Other)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9782743636067
ISBN-10: 2743636068
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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The Killer Inside Me
2014 - The Killer Inside Me (Hardcover)Paperback, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9781613471234
ISBN-10: 1613471238
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 2

The Grifters
2014 - The Grifters (Hardcover)Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
ISBN-13: 9781613471272
ISBN-10: 1613471270
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Sharecropper Hell
2014 - Sharecropper Hell (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781942531012
ISBN-10: 194253101X
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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A Hell of a Woman
2014 - A Hell of a Woman (Hardcover)Paperback, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9781613471258
ISBN-10: 1613471254
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Texas by the Tail
2014 - Texas By the Tail (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780316403740
ISBN-10: 0316403741
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Bad Boy
2014 - Bad Boy (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780316403757
ISBN-10: 031640375X
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Cropper's Cabin
2014 - Cropper's Cabin (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780316403764
ISBN-10: 0316403768
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Heed the Thunder
2014 - Heed the Thunder (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780316403771
ISBN-10: 0316403776
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Pop 1280
2014 - Pop 1280 (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780316403788
ISBN-10: 0316403784
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
  • Currently 2.5/5 Stars.
 3

Recoil
2014 - Recoil (Paperback)Paperback, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780316403801
ISBN-10: 0316403806
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Roughneck
2014 - Roughneck (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780316403818
ISBN-10: 0316403814
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Savage Night
2014 - Savage Night (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780316403825
ISBN-10: 0316403822
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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South Of Heaven
2014 - South of Heaven (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780316403832
ISBN-10: 0316403830
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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After Dark My Sweet
2014 - After Dark My Sweet (Paperback)Paperback, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780316403849
ISBN-10: 0316403849
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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A SwellLooking Babe
2014 - A Swelllooking Babe (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780316403924
ISBN-10: 031640392X
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Nothing More than Murder
2014 - Nothing More Than Murder (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780316403931
ISBN-10: 0316403938
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Now and on Earth
2014 - Now and on Earth (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780316403948
ISBN-10: 0316403946
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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The Alcoholics
2014 - The Alcoholics (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780316403955
ISBN-10: 0316403954
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Humor & Entertainment
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2005 - Los Timadores [Clasicos Gimlet - Spanish Edition] (Paperback)
2003 - Trekking and Climbing in Northern Spain [Globetrotter Adventure Guide] (Paperback)
2000 - Cape Ann in Stereo VIews [MA - Images of America] (Paperback)
1996 - Open City 4 [Open City] (Paperback)
1995 - Ici Et Maintenant [Now and On Earth - French Edition] (Paperback)
1994 - Hallali (Paperback)
1994 - Now and on Earth Intro By Stephen King [Vintage Crime/Black Lizard] (Paperback)
1994 - King Blood [Armchair Detective Library] (Hardcover)Hardcover
1989 - Vaurien (Paperback)
1987 - Sang Ml (Paperback)
1986 - Half Way Reflections in Midlife [Fount paperbacks] (Paperback)
Black Box Thrillers 4 Novels [The Getaway, Killer Inside Me, Grifters, and Pop. 1280] (Hardcover)
Noche Salvaje [Spanish Edition - La genuina novela negra Black, 18] (Paperback)
Texas [In Spanish] (Paperback)
Huida La [Spanish Edition] (Hardcover)
Solo Un Asesinato [Clasicos Gimlet - Spanish Edition] (Hardcover)
Una Mujer Endemoniada [Spanish Edition] (Paperback)