Charles Willeford

Author profile

born

January 02, 1919 in Little Rock, Arkansas, The United States

died

March 27, 1988

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Poetry, Biographies & Memoirs

About this author

edit data

Charles Willeford was a remarkably fine, talented and prolific writer who wrote everything from poetry to crime fiction to literary criticism throughout the course of his impressively long and diverse career. His crime novels are distinguished by a mean'n'lean sense of narrative economy and an admirable dearth of sentimentality. He was born as Charles Ray Willeford III on January 2, 1919 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Willeford's parents both died of tuberculosis when he was a little boy and he subsequently lived either with his grandmother or at boarding schools. Charles became a hobo in his early teens. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps at age sixteen and was stationed in the Philippines. Willeford served as a tank commander with the 10th Armo...more Charles Willeford was a remarkably fine, talented and prolific writer who wrote everything from poetry to crime fiction to literary criticism throughout the course of his impressively long and diverse career. His crime novels are distinguished by a mean'n'lean sense of narrative economy and an admirable dearth of sentimentality. He was born as Charles Ray Willeford III on January 2, 1919 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Willeford's parents both died of tuberculosis when he was a little boy and he subsequently lived either with his grandmother or at boarding schools. Charles became a hobo in his early teens. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps at age sixteen and was stationed in the Philippines. Willeford served as a tank commander with the 10th Armored Division in Europe during World War II. He won several medals for his military service: the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, and the Luxembourg Croix de Guerre. Charles retired from the army as a Master Sergeant. Willeford's first novel "High Priest of California" was published in 1953. This solid debut was followed by such equally excellent novels as "Pick-Up" (this book won a Beacon Fiction Award), "Wild Wives," "The Woman Chaser," "Cockfighter" (this particular book won the Mark Twain Award), and "The Burnt Orange Heresy." Charles achieved his greatest commercial and critical success with four outstanding novels about hapless Florida homicide detective Hoke Moseley: "Miami Blues," "New Hope for the Dead," "Sideswipe," and "The Way We Die Now." Outside of his novels, he also wrote the short story anthology "The Machine in Ward Eleven," the poetry collections "The Outcast Poets" and "Proletarian Laughter," and the nonfiction book "Something About A Soldier." Willeford attended both Palm Beach Junior College and the University of Miami. He taught a course in humanities at the University of Miami and was an associate professor who taught classes in both philosophy and English at Miami Dade Junior College. Charles was married three times and was an associate editor for "Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine." Three of Willeford's novels have been adapted into movies: Monte Hellman delivered a bleakly fascinating character study with "Cockfighter" (Charles wrote the script and has a sizable supporting role as the referee of a cockfighting tournament which climaxes the picture), George Armitage hit one out of the ballpark with the wonderfully quirky "Miami Blues," and Robinson Devor scored a bull's eye with the offbeat "The Woman Chaser." Charles popped up in a small part as a bartender in the fun redneck car chase romp "Thunder and Lightning." Charles Willeford died of a heart attack at age 69 on March 27, 1988.(less)

combine editions
Books by Charles Willeford

Average rating: 4.01 · 3,158 ratings · 347 reviews · 40 distinct works

	Miami Blues by Charles Willeford, Elmore Leonard (Introduction) 4.08 avg rating — 547 ratings — published 1984 — 14 editions	My rating:
	Pick-Up 4.14 avg rating — 310 ratings — published 1955 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Cockfighter 4.14 avg rating — 284 ratings — published 1972 — 12 editions	My rating:
	New Hope for the Dead by Charles Willeford, James Lee Burke (Introduction) 3.97 avg rating — 238 ratings — published 1985 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Sideswipe: A Hoke Moseley Novel by Charles Willeford, Lawrence Block (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 4.11 avg rating — 233 ratings — published 1987 — 11 editions	My rating:
	The Way We Die Now by Charles Willeford, Donald E. Westlake (Introduction) 4.07 avg rating — 205 ratings — published 1988 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Burnt Orange Heresy 3.97 avg rating — 229 ratings — published 1971 — 6 editions	My rating:
	The Shark-Infested Custard 3.85 avg rating — 179 ratings — 6 editions	My rating:
	The Woman Chaser 3.89 avg rating — 199 ratings — published 1960 — 9 editions	My rating:
	Wild Wives 3.76 avg rating — 125 ratings — published 1956 — 10 editions	My rating:

More books by Charles Willeford…

Series by Charles Willeford

Hoke Moseley (5 books)
by Charles Willeford

4.06 avg rating — 1,235 ratings

Quotes by Charles Willeford

“Just tell the truth, and they'll accuse you of writing black humor. ”
― Charles Willeford

tags: writing

18 people liked it

“My work is one long triumph over my limitations.”
― Charles Willeford, The Second Half of the Double Feature

5 people liked it

“Nothing human surprises me.”
― Charles Willeford

3 people liked it

See all Charles Willeford's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
M/T Reading Friends: Bouchercon in retrospect	39	42	Nov 05, 2010 01:53pm
Dark Fiction: Noir/Crime	34	98	Jun 13, 2011 12:26pm
readers advisory ...: Crime / Pulp (for when I go through Parker Withdrawl)	33	86	Nov 18, 2011 02:45pm
Pulp Fiction: Delacorta (Alba & Gorodish Sequence)	2	15	Apr 03, 2012 06:02pm
The Mystery, Crim...: * Member Reviews	133	706	May 20, 2012 09:32am
The Next Best Boo...: The Title Game	16903	12093	24 minutes ago
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks -DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2321	409	13 minutes ago

More…