Jim Thompson

Author profile

born

September 27, 1906 in Anadarko, Oklahoma, The United States

died

April 07, 1977

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers

About this author

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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

James Myers Thompson was a United States writer of novels, short stories and screenplays, largely in the hardboiled style of 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 cul...more

combine editions
Books by Jim Thompson

Average rating: 3.92 · 15,078 ratings · 1,089 reviews · 62 distinct works

	The Killer Inside Me 3.97 avg rating — 4,003 ratings — published 1952 — 31 editions	My rating:
	The Grifters 4.03 avg rating — 2,054 ratings — published 1963 — 19 editions	My rating:
	Pop. 1280 4.15 avg rating — 1,668 ratings — published 1964 — 17 editions	My rating:
	The Getaway 4.02 avg rating — 1,127 ratings — published 1958 — 25 editions	My rating:
	After Dark, My Sweet 3.98 avg rating — 930 ratings — published 1955 — 11 editions	My rating:
	A Hell of a Woman 3.96 avg rating — 797 ratings — published 1954 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Savage Night 3.89 avg rating — 534 ratings — published 1953 — 16 editions	My rating:
	A Swell-Looking Babe by Jim Thompson, Marty Asher (Editor) 3.79 avg rating — 450 ratings — published 1954 — 9 editions	My rating:
	The Kill-Off 3.66 avg rating — 331 ratings — published 1957 — 8 editions	My rating:
	The Nothing Man 3.77 avg rating — 297 ratings — published 1954 — 6 editions	My rating:

More books by Jim Thompson…

Quotes by Jim Thompson

“Life is a bucket of shit with a barbed wire handle.”
― Jim Thompson

69 people liked it

“There are things that have to be forgotten if you want to go on living.”
― Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me

36 people liked it

“A weed is a plant out of place.”
― Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me

16 people liked it

See all Jim Thompson's quotes »

Polls

Please vote for the book you'd like to read as a group in May 2010.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

14 votes, 23.3%

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

12 votes, 20.0%

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

9 votes, 15.0%

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

7 votes, 11.7%

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

6 votes, 10.0%

Hold Still by Nina LaCour

4 votes, 6.7%

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado

3 votes, 5.0%

Conflict In Blue: Behind The Badge by Richard Whitaker

3 votes, 5.0%

Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman

1 vote, 1.7%

A Swell-Looking Babe by Jim Thompson

1 vote, 1.7%

60 total votes

1 comment

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Challenge: 50 Books: Brian's Books for 2009	111	504	Dec 29, 2009 06:22pm
Challenge: 50 Books: Ben's Books for 2009	45	242	Jun 03, 2010 08:50am
10,000 Pages in 2010: James' 10,000	24	56	Jun 10, 2010 05:07pm
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The Mystery, Crim...: Hi all - looking for noir/hardboiled fans	28	59	Jul 14, 2011 05:52am
Inattentive and Un-appreciated	56	189	Oct 09, 2011 06:38pm

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