George V. Higgins wrote two classic crime novels: The Friends of Eddie Coyle and Cogan’s Trade, now retitled Killing Them Softly to tie-in with the new Brad Pitt movie of the same name. Higgins went on to write many other fine crime novels, but few of them reached the intensity of these two books. Jackie Cogan is an enforcer for organized crime in the Boston area. When a high-stakes card game is knocked-over, Cogan is called in to “fix” the problem. For those of you who haven’t experienced Higgins’ writing style, it’s gritty and hard-boiled. The movie opens today. Check out the trailer below.
Cool!
Cool indeed, Evan. George V. Higgins is one of my favorite crime writers.
The movie got so so reviews. The books are great. I like his non fiction, like THE FRIENDS OF RICHARD NIXON, too.
George V. Higgins’ ON WRITING is terrific, too, Jeff!
I thought I had read ON WRITING but apparently not, so I ordered a copy. I also liked his baseball book, THE PROGRESS OF THE SEASONS.
John O’Hara shows up a lot in ON WRITING, Jeff. After I finished Higgins’ book, I immediately picked up some O’Hara and read them, too!
I liked the movie quite a lot – it stays pretty close to the book (well, until the latter parts of the narrative) thought the political commentary is often unsubtly shoe-horned into the film on occasion (on others it is done more subtly and effectively). The final speech by Cogan is a great punch in the solar plexus and is a great finish for the movie, even if it does feel a bit tacked on.
I’m hoping to see KILLING THEM SOFTLY this week, Sergio. It’s difficult with all the end-of-semester paperwork. But after December 20, I’m a free man!