A Hell of a Woman (Crime Masterworks)
by Jim Thompson
published
2005
by Orion mass market paperback
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binding
Paperback, 288 pages
isbn
0752852108
(isbn13: 9780752852102)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 225)
Read in July, 2008
A masterpiece of cheap lives, small-town desperation, and absent morals. The last few pages, in which the protagonist has a mental breakdown, is written in alternating lines of conflicting consciousness: its among the most evocative, frightening, and beautiful prose I've read. The protagonist, a sleazy door-to-door salesman, is the epitome of the Thompson archetype: he fears betrayal because he, himself, has no loyalties, and sees no justification for them; his over-confidence is equaled only by...more
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In recent months, I seem to have stumbled into the project of reading in publication order the collected works the pulp noir greats. Thus, since beginning to read noir in an orderly way, I've read the first two novels of Charles Williams, the first three of Raymond Chandler, the first six or seven by Cornell Woolrich, etc. At some point, I'll start with the first Jim Thompson book, and begin working my way through his canon in an orderly fashion, too, and when I reach (and re-read) my Thompson...more
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This is really the only book from Jim Thompson that I wouldn't really recommend. Yes, the kind of incest thing is weird, but it was more than that that put me off. I suppose the main character wasn't bad enough or slick enough.
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Read in January, 2006
My favorite noir novel. Like David Goodis, Thompson is too depressing for many people, but I've always found his books riveting. This is his best work, up there with The Killer Inside Me and Pop. 1280.
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Read in November, 1990
Another twisty thriller from Jim Thompson with a marvelous downbeat ending.
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If you like Raymond Chandler, you'll probably like Jim Thompson's LA crime fiction. I've heard his best is actually The Killer Inside Me, but I haven't read it yet.
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