FORGOTTEN BOOKS #269: Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers Edited by Robert Polito

crime novels
For this Friday’s Forgotten Books, I decided to go with the Library of America’s volume of American Noir of the 1950s. Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me (1952), Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), Charles Willeford’sPick-Up (1957), David Goodis’ Down There (1956), and Chester Himes’ The Real Cool Killers (1959) surveys the noir crime novels of the Fifties. Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me is a chilling psychological novel. The Talented Mr. Ripley features the amoral Tom Ripley who doesn’t hesitate to kill for things he wants. Charles Williford’s Pick-Up explores the limits of love in San Francisco. David Goodis’ Down There inspired Truffaut’s Shoot the Piano Players. Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, Harlem detectives, bring their own special brand of nihilistic humor to The Real Cool Killers. There’s a broad range of styles in these noir classics. They are all highly recommended! This is a terrific collection.

14 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN BOOKS #269: Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers Edited by Robert Polito

  1. Jerry House

    It’s impossible to pick the “best novel” in this great collection, George. There’s not a second-tier choice in the entire book. A great pick! (Although it’s sad to think that, for some readers, these books are “Forgotten,” if not “Never Known.”)

    Reply
  2. Jeff Meyerson

    Good choice! You can’t go wrong with THE KILLER INSIDE ME in particular. I have the Black Lizard edition of Pick-Up sitting on the shelf so maybe this will push it up the list.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Beth, this CRIME NOVELS: AMERICAN NOIR OF THE 1950s is one of my favorite Library of America volumes. Nice package at a good price!

      Reply
  3. Richard R.

    Good choice. I intentionally picked a non-noir novel, because I guessed many would do noir, as you did. I have this but have read just two of them.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Rick, this CRIME NOVELS: AMERICAN NOIR OF THE 1950s shows the variety of crime fiction in the Fifties. It’s a great value!

      Reply
  4. Todd Mason

    The only problem with these omnibuses is that the half-educated will take these as the Only worthwhile writers and/or novels (etc.) in the fields they are taken from. Which is no reason not to enjoy these volumes, for what they do provide.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Todd, you make a good point. The Library of America was originally set up to keep the classics of American Literature in print. Somewhere along the line “classics” became an elastic term. The LOA made lots of money on their Philip K. Dick and H. P. Lovecraft volumes.

      Reply
      1. Todd Mason

        Yeah, well, I’ll say that the collected 1950s noir and sf novels are classics, too…at least as much as Lovecraft…but calcified canons are created too easily.

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