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娼婦たち
This book contains James Crumley's collected short fiction, non-fiction and a long interview conducted by New Yorker writers Bryan Di Salvatore and Deidre McNamer.
- GenresShort Stories
Tankobon Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
142 people want to read
About the author
James Crumley
61 books313 followersJames Arthur Crumley was the author of violent hardboiled crime novels and several volumes of short stories and essays, as well as published and unpublished screenplays. He has been described as "one of modern crime writing's best practitioners", who was "a patron saint of the post-Vietnam private eye novel"and a cross between Raymond Chandler and Hunter S. Thompson.His book The Last Good Kiss has been described as "the most influential crime novel of the last 50 years."
Crumley, who was born in Three Rivers, Texas, grew up in south Texas, where his father was an oil-field supervisor and his mother was a waitress.
Crumley was a grade-A student and a football player, an offensive lineman, in high school. He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology on a Navy ROTC scholarship, but left to serve in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1961 in the Philippines. He then attended the Texas College of Arts and Industries on a football scholarship, where he received his B.A. degree with a major in history in 1964. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at the University of Iowa in 1966. His master's thesis was later published as the Vietnam War novel One to Count Cadence in 1969.
Crumley had not read any detective fiction until prompted to by Montana poet Richard Hugo, who recommended the work of Raymond Chandler for the quality of his sentences. Crumley finally picked up a copy of one of Chandler's books in Guadalajara, Mexico. Impressed by Chandler's writing, and that of Ross Macdonald, Crumley began writing his first detective novel, The Wrong Case, which was published in 1975.
Crumley served on the English faculty of the University of Montana at Missoula, and as a visiting professor at a number of other colleges, including the University of Arkansas, Colorado State University, the University of Texas at El Paso, Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
From the mid-80s on he lived in Missoula, Montana, where he found inspiration for his novels at Charlie B's bar. A regular there, he had many longstanding friends who have been portrayed as characters in his books.
Crumley died at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana on September 17, 2008 of complications from kidney and pulmonary diseases after many years of health problems. He was survived by his wife of 16 years, Martha Elizabeth, a poet and artist who was his fifth wife. He had five children – three from his second marriage and two from his fourth – eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Crumley, who was born in Three Rivers, Texas, grew up in south Texas, where his father was an oil-field supervisor and his mother was a waitress.
Crumley was a grade-A student and a football player, an offensive lineman, in high school. He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology on a Navy ROTC scholarship, but left to serve in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1961 in the Philippines. He then attended the Texas College of Arts and Industries on a football scholarship, where he received his B.A. degree with a major in history in 1964. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at the University of Iowa in 1966. His master's thesis was later published as the Vietnam War novel One to Count Cadence in 1969.
Crumley had not read any detective fiction until prompted to by Montana poet Richard Hugo, who recommended the work of Raymond Chandler for the quality of his sentences. Crumley finally picked up a copy of one of Chandler's books in Guadalajara, Mexico. Impressed by Chandler's writing, and that of Ross Macdonald, Crumley began writing his first detective novel, The Wrong Case, which was published in 1975.
Crumley served on the English faculty of the University of Montana at Missoula, and as a visiting professor at a number of other colleges, including the University of Arkansas, Colorado State University, the University of Texas at El Paso, Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
From the mid-80s on he lived in Missoula, Montana, where he found inspiration for his novels at Charlie B's bar. A regular there, he had many longstanding friends who have been portrayed as characters in his books.
Crumley died at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana on September 17, 2008 of complications from kidney and pulmonary diseases after many years of health problems. He was survived by his wife of 16 years, Martha Elizabeth, a poet and artist who was his fifth wife. He had five children – three from his second marriage and two from his fourth – eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 29, 2015
This is number 72 of 475 signed and numbered copies signed by James Crumley.
Contents
5 - "From The Mexican Tree Duck,A Novel In Progress"
23 - "Daddy's Gone A-Hunting"
35 - "Whores"
55 - "The Philanderer"
63 - "Goodbye Cruel World"
73 - "Cairn"
93 - "The Heavy"
109 - "The Things She Can Not Write About,
The Reasons Why"
123 - Interview (Conducted by Bryan Di Salvatore & Deirdre McNamer)
137 - "Three Cheers for Thomas J. Rabb"
165 - "Driving Around Houston"
Cover by Joe Servello
Contents
5 - "From The Mexican Tree Duck,A Novel In Progress"
23 - "Daddy's Gone A-Hunting"
35 - "Whores"
55 - "The Philanderer"
63 - "Goodbye Cruel World"
73 - "Cairn"
93 - "The Heavy"
109 - "The Things She Can Not Write About,
The Reasons Why"
123 - Interview (Conducted by Bryan Di Salvatore & Deirdre McNamer)
137 - "Three Cheers for Thomas J. Rabb"
165 - "Driving Around Houston"
Cover by Joe Servello
October 9, 2007
Found this book at my local laundromat and thought I'd give it a read. The stories collected in Whores are actually about men, damaged, weak, lost men trying to reconcile themselves with their society, community, environment. Even the non-fiction piece, "Driving Around Houston" deals with the quest to find your place, where you fit. Crumley sometimes has a cool, pulp-esque writing style that I find appealing. Some of his characters are appealing as well, some are revolting but all are interesting.
April 6, 2018
James Crumley is hands down one of my favorite authors, but lately I'm curious as to why that is. His crime/detective prose isn't usually as poetic or even as tough as I usually like, and the stuff he's written in other genres has interested me, but I can't necessarily say it's up my alley either. This is a super cool hodgepodge of short fiction, an interview, and some other odds and ends. I can't help but love it. Even if I don't know why, there's a good chunk of Crumley deep in my soul.
March 24, 2023
We have, scattered about the country, writers who have been ruined by Fine Arts Programs. And we have a few here and there sullied by booze or drugs or women or poverty or even success.
Not James Crumley. Naw-uh. He was not ruined by anything. He had the talent, the touch, the magic that makes his writing flow from the page to the mind, bringing light and grace along with a bit of savageness.
In this collection we are treated to some previously published work, some bits which entangle with the future "The Mexican Tree Duck", an interview and several unpublished works, including a brilliant interview with the actor Roy Jenson.
I had not been aware of this book until recently; I am thankful I found it.
Recommended.
Not James Crumley. Naw-uh. He was not ruined by anything. He had the talent, the touch, the magic that makes his writing flow from the page to the mind, bringing light and grace along with a bit of savageness.
In this collection we are treated to some previously published work, some bits which entangle with the future "The Mexican Tree Duck", an interview and several unpublished works, including a brilliant interview with the actor Roy Jenson.
I had not been aware of this book until recently; I am thankful I found it.
Recommended.
January 5, 2026
Whores is a gritty, evocative collection that deepens as it progresses. The stories, essays, and one revealing interview showcase James Crumley’s distinctive voice and raw, unsentimental insight into masculinity, violence, and longing. From the start, Crumley proves himself a master of character and mood.
In Daddy’s Gone A-Hunting, a narrator returns to his Montana hometown amid a divorce. And in the title story, two college professors cross the border into Nuevo Laredo. It's a trip that tests the limits of friendship, fidelity, and self-control. The Philanderer is a sharp portrait of obsessive desire and moral erosion, told through the eyes of a womanizing realtor.
The standout piece in this collection, for me, is Three Cheers for Thomas J. Rabb. The story follows a former football prodigy turned soldier, Thomas Rabb, who resists both his father’s expectations and the seductive brutality of sport and war. It’s the emotional core of the collection and a testament to Crumley’s narrative range.
Though best known for his crime novels, Crumley’s short work here is equally compelling—taut, reflective, and often darkly humorous. Whores is a rewarding introduction to his world, and for newcomers like me, a powerful incentive to seek out his longer fiction.
In Daddy’s Gone A-Hunting, a narrator returns to his Montana hometown amid a divorce. And in the title story, two college professors cross the border into Nuevo Laredo. It's a trip that tests the limits of friendship, fidelity, and self-control. The Philanderer is a sharp portrait of obsessive desire and moral erosion, told through the eyes of a womanizing realtor.
The standout piece in this collection, for me, is Three Cheers for Thomas J. Rabb. The story follows a former football prodigy turned soldier, Thomas Rabb, who resists both his father’s expectations and the seductive brutality of sport and war. It’s the emotional core of the collection and a testament to Crumley’s narrative range.
Though best known for his crime novels, Crumley’s short work here is equally compelling—taut, reflective, and often darkly humorous. Whores is a rewarding introduction to his world, and for newcomers like me, a powerful incentive to seek out his longer fiction.
April 2, 2014
The last segment; Driving Around Houston fulfilled my small hope that I'd been to somewhere that James Crumley had spent some time, as he is one of my favorite authors, and a few pages from the end he pines about the great Galleria Mall in Houston, talks of the skylight and the ice rink and how Houston is Houston in his poetic drawl. I've been to the Galleria twice around Xmas a couple of months ago and it was incredible, stood at that ice rink, it was a nice moment of connectivity.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews