David Goodis penned about 18 novels in his relatively short lifetime. Retreat From Oblivion was his debut published in 1939. Somebody's Done For was his last in 1967 the year of his death, aged 49.From Fantastic Fiction......
David Goodis is one of the most admired American noir writers of the last century. Goodis worked in Hollywood for Warner Brothers but in 1950 he returned to his native Philadelphia and continued to write paperback novels about man's inexorable decline into despair. He died in obscurity in 1967.
Cheery stuff then...... 2 from 4 .......
Dark Passage (1946)
David Goodis is one of the most admired American noir writers of the last century. In this book, first published in 1946, Vince Parry, sentenced to life imprisonment in San Quentin for the murder of his wife, escapes. He tries to find out who framed him in an attempt to prove his innocence. He is harboured by a woman he doesn't trust, he is a fugitive from justice in the depths of despair. Parry's last throw is a desperate gamble to hide his identity from the law. Filmed in 1947 by Delmer Daves at Warner Brothers and starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall - it became a classic noir movie.
The Moon in the Gutter (1953)
In a back street in the rough end of Philadelphia, docker William Kerrigan obsesses over the mysterious suicide of his sister. Into a dive bar walks Loretta Channing the beautiful, enigmatic socialite and sister of Newton the drunk. For Kerrigan, Loretta's the impossible dream, the escape route from out of his hellhole existence, away from the crowded tenements, the shacks, the dark alleys. But Loretta may also hold the key to finding out what prompted his sister's death, the reason he can never break free. The Moon in the Gutter is a fierce and heated tale of desire and revenge. Made into a film starring Gerard Depardieu and Nastassia Kinski, it remains an enthralling classic of American noir fiction.
I'm glad you've highlighted Goodis here, Col. I know the name, but haven't tried his work (although I've wanted to do that). I hope you'll enjoy these, and I appreciate the reminder to get moving and try something of his.
ReplyDeleteHa, you and me both Margot. Always more books and authors than available time it seems.
DeleteMy introduction to Goodis, back in the '90s or late '80s, was the Black Box omnibus in your photograph. I can't recall the novels themselves, but I do recall being blown over by them.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great series (Black Box, the brainchild of Maxim Jakubowski). I can't remember how many there were -- not that many, if memory serves, maybe just four or five -- but they really put noir/hardboiled/pulp on the map for readers like me who up to then had encountered only the likes of Chandler, Hammett, Macdonald, MacDonald.
I have the Jim Thompson omnibus as well. I think I passed up the Woolrich one once, which I now regret having read something by him.
DeleteI thought of Jakubowski last week, as I was up in London along the Charing Cross Road, reminiscing with my wife about Murder One which was my go to shop for US crime in the pre-internet days.
Goodis is a favorite of mine. Strange stories. His style gives them a dream-like quality. Nightmare might be a better word.
ReplyDeleteElgin, the titles of his books give an indication of where he is coming from I think......Gutter, Down, Dark. I'm looking forward to getting familiar with his work.
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