Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s (Loa #95): The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-Up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers

by Patricia Highsmith, Charles Willeford, Jim Thompson

This adventurous two-volume collection presents a rich vein of modern American writing too often neglected in mainstream literary histories. Evolving out of the terse and violent hardboiled style of the pulp magazines, noir fiction expanded over the decades into a varied and innovative body of writing. Tapping deep roots in the American literary imagination, the novels in this volume explore themes of crime, guilt, deception, obsessive passion, murder,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1883011493
• ISBN13: 9781883011499
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Library of America
• Length: 892 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Great, plus a surprising treat

In this area of noir, I suggest starting with Raymond Chandler. If you've whipped through his books, like me recently, as well as those of Micky Spillane and Dashiell Hammett, then you are definitely ready for this collection and its partner volume of crime novels from the '30s and '40s. I need to mention, in particular, a real treasure in this collection, which is The Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes. At this point, allow me a brief political comment. These days, when I see an anthology of five books, and one of the authors is a woman and one is an African-American, perhaps you will forgive me if I guess that something other than storytelling merit went into the selection process. Too harsh? Keep in mind that we are talking about a genre (in this case, hard-boiled crime stories from the 1950s) where you don't exactly expect to see a rainbow coalition of gender and ethnicity. What's more, my suspicion was initially confirmed by reading The Talented Mr. Ripley, which is clearly the weakest story in the collection, and only then observing that this was the first novel in the field I had seen written by a female author. That introduction brings me to the Real Cool Killers, by Chester Himes. I have since learned that he was an African-American author who wrote many books. But I will fight it out with anyone who claims that Real Cool Killers was selected because of Himes' race. This story is the best of the lot, and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future. In fact, our era of political correctness in literature and academia probably means that Himes does not get nearly the attention he deserves. He is wonderfully impartial when it comes to skin hue in his presentation of nasty characters and their evil deeds. He is equally impartial in his socio-economics. The poor are not automatic angels; the police and the wealthy are not cardboard oppressors. Himes is just a great writer. His novel, which is the last in the book, was a surprising treat.

An excellent compilation

The other reviewers misunderstand "Pick Up", (****warning -- spoiler****) which is a fascinating novel because the narrator is mentally disturbed and completely unreliable. This fact explains the "twist" ending, a number of apparent editing errors and the unlikely events that occur throughout.

More Noir

This book is the second volume in the Library of America set on American crime noir. I enjoyed the first volume so much that I decided to read the second one during Christmas break. Once again, the LOA has done a nice job of collecting a fine series of stories. These stories were written during the 1950's and 1960's. The book is nice to look at too; it's covered in red cloth with a cloth bookmark.The first story is from the demented mind of Jim Thompson. This story, called The Killer Inside Me, is much better than The Grifters, a book by Thompson that I read some time ago. The Grifters seemed to be pretty one-dimensional with respect to its characters. This story is the exact opposite. A deputy sheriff in a Texas city has a terrible secret. He plays dumb on the outside, but inside he is a cunning sociopath. A long simmering resentment leads to a terrible revenge. Bodies quickly stack up as a result. This seems to be the story that Thompson is best known for and it's no surprise why. This is a dark, twisted tale with a grim ending.Patricia Highsmith wrote a whole series of stories concerning Tom Ripley. The one included here is The Talented Mr. Ripley, probably better known due to the recent film with Matt Damon. This tale isn't as noir as I would have liked, but it still has enough twists and turns to keep anybody in suspense. Ripley is a low class conniver who ingratiates himself into a wealthy family who wants him to go to Italy and bring back their son. Ripley sees the potential for bucks and meets up with the kid and his lady friend. Of course, things take a turn for the worse and the bodies start stacking up. This story was probably my least favorite out of the entire collection.The next story, Pick-Up, by Charles Willeford, is a depressing tale about two alcoholics who go bump in the night. The story follows the adventures of this alcoholic couple as they attempt suicide, check themselves into a mental hospital, and drink themselves into a stupor. After the female half of the couple dies in another suicide pact, the story switches to a prison tale. The end is somewhat of a twist, but really doesn't impact the story that much, in my opinion. Again, not really noir as noir can be, but still a fine story that can stand by itself. Down There, by David Goodis, is a wild ride of a tale. Full of suspense and death, this is a great story that deserves to be included here. A family of ne'er-do-wells drags their talented piano-playing brother into their personal problems. The background information on Eddie, the piano player, is phenomenal. The tragedy that has struck him once is bound to repeat itself again. This story has great bit characters that really liven up the background.The final story, by Chester Himes, is The Real Cool Killers. This is noir on acid: pornographic violence, massive doses of grim reality, and characters you're glad to see get killed. The story is set in Harlem and involves two tough cops named Grave Digger Jones and Coffin E

Great Collection, Attractively Packaged

This is a fine collection of crime novels in a durable, easy to read format. It starts off great with "The Killer Inside Me", the all time best trip through a killer's mind. The selections by Highsmith and Goodis, while not as intense as "Killer", are just as good in their own quieter ways. The only novel I would have left out is "Pickup"; while I like Willeford I think this is one of his more leaden performances. I also have a quibble with the volume's title, as the word "noir" has been beaten to death and doesn't tell us much about most of these books. "The Talented Mr. Ripley" owes more to Henry James than to Raymond Chandler, and "Killer" doesn't feature any dark city streets. Quibbles aside, however, the book is well worth buying.

Indispensable for crime and noir fans

Excellent compilation of crime novels from the 50's. The authors don't just follow the formula they exploit it. Can only buy individual books in paperback so the hardcover binding is nice. If you have the books in paperback already get for the pretty package. I did. Includes arguably the quintessential Jim Thompson novel, a chilling first person narrative of a psychopathic cop, The Killer Inside Me, The Talented Mr. Ripley which is great but not as good as the sequels Ripley Under Ground and Ripley's Game, Pick up, a story narrated by a depressed, cynical loser who's given up on life and decides to take the woman he picks up with him. You'll never guess the great twist at the end as well The Real Cool Killers and Down There which was made into Truffaut's Shoot the Piano player. Sure, the authors' literary devices and cheap tricks might rub the literary critic in you the wrong way but I guarantee you won't be able to put it down. Don't think twice- get it.