James M. Cain

Author profile

born

July 01, 1892 in Annapolis, Maryland, The United States

died

October 27, 1977

gender

male

genre

Mystery & Thrillers, Literature & Fiction

About this author

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James Mallahan Cain was an American journalist and novelist. Although Cain himself vehemently opposed labelling, he is usually associated with the hardboiled school of American crime fiction and seen as one of the creators of the 'roman noir'.
He was born into an Irish Catholic family in Annapolis, Maryland, the son of a prominent educator and an opera singer. He inherited his love for music from his mother, but his high hopes of starting a career as a singer himself were thwarted when she told him that his voice was not good enough.

After graduating from Washington College where his father, James W. Cain served as president, in 1910, hebegan working as a journalist for the Baltimore Sun.

He was drafted into the United States Army and spent t...more

combine editions
Books by James M. Cain

Average rating: 3.88 · 11,423 ratings · 1,169 reviews · 53 distinct works

	The Postman Always Rings Twice 3.81 avg rating — 5,130 ratings — published 1934 — 42 editions	My rating:
	Double Indemnity 4.06 avg rating — 3,265 ratings — published 1943 — 30 editions	My rating:
	Mildred Pierce 3.86 avg rating — 1,991 ratings — published 1941 — 36 editions	My rating:
	The Postman Always Rings Twice/Double Indemnity/Mildred Pierce & Selected Stories by James M. Cain, Robert Polito 4.19 avg rating — 246 ratings — published 2003	My rating:
	Serenade 3.61 avg rating — 167 ratings — 11 editions	My rating:
	The Butterfly 3.32 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 1947 — 9 editions	My rating:
	Three by Cain: Serenade/Love's Lovely Counterfeit/The Butterfly by James M. Cain, Jeff Stone (Editor) 4.06 avg rating — 66 ratings — published 1989 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Baby in the Icebox and Other Short Fiction by James M. Cain, Roy Hoopes (Editor) 3.84 avg rating — 68 ratings — published 1984 — 5 editions	My rating:
	Love's Lovely Counterfeit 3.54 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 1942 — 5 editions	My rating:
	The Postman Always Rings Twice/Double Indemnity 4.09 avg rating — 32 ratings	My rating:

More books by James M. Cain…

Quotes by James M. Cain

“Love, when you get fear in it, it's not love any more. It's hate.”
― James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice

tags: fear , hate , love

27 people liked it

“I write of the wish that comes true--for some reason, a terrifying thought.”
― James M. Cain

tags: writing

8 people liked it

“You have to wait for your mind to catch up with whatever it is it’s working on; then you can write a novel.”
― James M. Cain

tags: advice , mind , novel , writting

7 people liked it

See all James M. Cain's quotes »

Polls

Please vote for the work of fiction you would like to read in December.

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

10 votes, 37.0%

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

8 votes, 29.6%

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

6 votes, 22.2%

Unspeakable Women: Selected Short Stories Written by Italian Women During Fascism by Robin Pickering-Iazzi

3 votes, 11.1%

27 total votes

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