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Dirty Words
From the creator of Thuglit.com--DIRTY WORDS The first collection from award-winning short story writer, Todd Robinson. SO LONG JOHNNIE SCUMBAG—selected for The Year's Best Writing 2003 by Writer's Digest. The Derringer Award nominated short, ROSES AT HIS FEET THE LONG COUNT—selected as a Notable Story of the Year in Best American Mystery Stories 2005. PLUS eight more tales of in-your-face crime fiction.
166 pages, Paperback
First published June 2, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 23, 2012
There are so many aspects to America that make for great material in entertainment - prisons, mobsters, barflies, boxing, petty-criminals, jazz, private-investigators - not to mention the melting-pot that is New York.
Dirty Words is something of a melting-pot too, and it's great to have all the themes mentioned and more besides touched on in the one collection.
Todd Robinson certainly doesn't short-change the buyers of his book. Each story is really substantial (and there are 11 of them altogether). Better still, he delivers tales skillfully, playing around with ideas and telling them in an almost conversational way; imagine taking a long bus-ride and sitting next to Ed Bunker (I know Ed's dead, Baby - imagine) and how fully entertained you'd be and now you're on the mark for what you'll find in Dirty Words.
The voices of the stories always flows. The characters are superbly drawn. The themes seem familiar, but the way Robinson approaches them, you'll never know what's coming; in a way he's pulling a scam of his own every time he takes us on a journey and he's always clever enough to stay at least one step ahead.
The dialogue is exceptional. There's one point where part of a conversation is in Italian. My Italian is non-existent, but I understood the meaning and appreciated the humour, not to mention the situation (a mafia boss telling his crew to drop their trousers).
There's a lot of humour in their, too. Todd and his characters are quick and sharp with their lines and deliver with the deadpan look of a slapped fish. You'll also find a huge amount of humour in the way things play out. Thing is, it's all done with a grace of writing that makes it look like it's all been completely effortless, when I know that writing this good takes a huge amount of graft.
I'd love to hear that someone of the ilk of Quentin Tarantino would get hold of this and try and roll it together and make some kind of Short Cuts. That would be quite something to see on the screen.
Set to it. You won't regret it (unless you have serious issues with sex, violence, swearing and illegal activity).
Big smiles.
Dirty Words is something of a melting-pot too, and it's great to have all the themes mentioned and more besides touched on in the one collection.
Todd Robinson certainly doesn't short-change the buyers of his book. Each story is really substantial (and there are 11 of them altogether). Better still, he delivers tales skillfully, playing around with ideas and telling them in an almost conversational way; imagine taking a long bus-ride and sitting next to Ed Bunker (I know Ed's dead, Baby - imagine) and how fully entertained you'd be and now you're on the mark for what you'll find in Dirty Words.
The voices of the stories always flows. The characters are superbly drawn. The themes seem familiar, but the way Robinson approaches them, you'll never know what's coming; in a way he's pulling a scam of his own every time he takes us on a journey and he's always clever enough to stay at least one step ahead.
The dialogue is exceptional. There's one point where part of a conversation is in Italian. My Italian is non-existent, but I understood the meaning and appreciated the humour, not to mention the situation (a mafia boss telling his crew to drop their trousers).
There's a lot of humour in their, too. Todd and his characters are quick and sharp with their lines and deliver with the deadpan look of a slapped fish. You'll also find a huge amount of humour in the way things play out. Thing is, it's all done with a grace of writing that makes it look like it's all been completely effortless, when I know that writing this good takes a huge amount of graft.
I'd love to hear that someone of the ilk of Quentin Tarantino would get hold of this and try and roll it together and make some kind of Short Cuts. That would be quite something to see on the screen.
Set to it. You won't regret it (unless you have serious issues with sex, violence, swearing and illegal activity).
Big smiles.
March 27, 2018
I first encountered Todd Robinson’s name as the editor of the excellent "Thuglit" magazine, a noir anthology which sadly ceased production in 2016. That was just before I’d heard of it, as I started exploring the juicy world of indie anthology magazines. However, I have bought and read several back issues of Thuglit since and have been absolutely impressed. I also came across one of his short stories in a back issue of "All Due Respect" magazine and loved his writing style.
And so I started looking for more of Mr Robinson’s work. This brought me to "Dirty Words", a rip-roaring collection of 11 of his short stories. Hard-boiled and noir are on a pedestal here.
As the man himself says in his introduction:
“So if you normally spend your hard-earned loot on crime stories that feature a nice scone recipe, you might as well stop right here. It ain’t gonna get any better for you.”
No shit, Sherlock. Not a scone recipe in sight. However, if it’s meals of violence, drugs and sex you’re after, this would be a great addition to that shelf in the kitchen.
The collection that follows is a scorching variety of glimpses into the underbelly of society, and all those truly interesting characters who live there, or survive, or try to, or die horribly along the sordid path. There are only two things all the stories have in common – they’re as hard and dark as hell, and they’re beautifully written.
Mr Robinson knows his art, and I’m going to be looking for more.
Cheers,
ABP
And so I started looking for more of Mr Robinson’s work. This brought me to "Dirty Words", a rip-roaring collection of 11 of his short stories. Hard-boiled and noir are on a pedestal here.
As the man himself says in his introduction:
“So if you normally spend your hard-earned loot on crime stories that feature a nice scone recipe, you might as well stop right here. It ain’t gonna get any better for you.”
No shit, Sherlock. Not a scone recipe in sight. However, if it’s meals of violence, drugs and sex you’re after, this would be a great addition to that shelf in the kitchen.
The collection that follows is a scorching variety of glimpses into the underbelly of society, and all those truly interesting characters who live there, or survive, or try to, or die horribly along the sordid path. There are only two things all the stories have in common – they’re as hard and dark as hell, and they’re beautifully written.
Mr Robinson knows his art, and I’m going to be looking for more.
Cheers,
ABP
January 26, 2018
We've all seen the book reviews/endorsements about a book being "laugh out loud" or " a laugh a minute", but I've genuinely never encountered a book that's made me laugh as much as this one. It was a slight surprise given the Todd Robinson story I loved in Trouble in the Heartland was a more serious affair.
The book is populated with a few characters who recur in the stories; T.C. is an alcoholic mob enforcer/P.I. type who appears in three of the stories (two of which were award nominated) and he gets some of the funniest lines I've read whilst his stories and world are undoubtedly harsh and brutal. Boo and Junior, the characters from his novels, appear in two stories and are a whole lot of fun to read and had me in mind of a younger, East Coast Hap and Leonard.
There's other great work here too and most of it has a wry dark humour to it and my personal favourite of these was "Hot Enough For Ya?" about a tanning salon owner who has to hide out after finding out his latest conquest was the local gang lord's 16 year old daughter.
I'd thoroughly recommend this to anyone who loves crime and especially if you love a laugh. Can't wait to get to the Boo and Junior novels now.
The book is populated with a few characters who recur in the stories; T.C. is an alcoholic mob enforcer/P.I. type who appears in three of the stories (two of which were award nominated) and he gets some of the funniest lines I've read whilst his stories and world are undoubtedly harsh and brutal. Boo and Junior, the characters from his novels, appear in two stories and are a whole lot of fun to read and had me in mind of a younger, East Coast Hap and Leonard.
There's other great work here too and most of it has a wry dark humour to it and my personal favourite of these was "Hot Enough For Ya?" about a tanning salon owner who has to hide out after finding out his latest conquest was the local gang lord's 16 year old daughter.
I'd thoroughly recommend this to anyone who loves crime and especially if you love a laugh. Can't wait to get to the Boo and Junior novels now.
December 31, 2013
Todd Robinson is a funny guy. That's the first thing that'll hit you after reading his stories. Many of them are boisterous and rollicking.
But his writing has got a lot more than that. Like a good guitarist, he's got an array of different tones. As good as the funny stuff is, the sad notes (as in "Delivery") may be the ones that linger more.
Either way, there are a lot of finely etched observations. Plus, even though the end product flows in a way that seems effortless, that is deceptive. A lot of crafting went into this work.
But his writing has got a lot more than that. Like a good guitarist, he's got an array of different tones. As good as the funny stuff is, the sad notes (as in "Delivery") may be the ones that linger more.
Either way, there are a lot of finely etched observations. Plus, even though the end product flows in a way that seems effortless, that is deceptive. A lot of crafting went into this work.
October 7, 2013
An anthology of stories, published before “Peaches.” As with any anthology, some stories are better than others; none are weak. “So Long, Johnnie Scumbag” gets things started with a bang. “Last Call,” “Angelo Death,” and “The Saint of Gunners” all stand out, but the highlights of this collection are two stories featuring the heroes of Robinson’s novel, The Hard Bounce: Boo Malone and his sidekick, Junior. Both stories have the pacing of The Hard Bounce, yet show there’s more than action and dirty words going on in Robinson’s writing.
July 11, 2014
Great noir stories full of grit and pain and bad choices that leave the characters ravaged and bleeding. They'll hit you like a flurry of punches and leave their mark. If you think Jim Thompson's noir isn't hard enough, you'll eat these up. These tales detail life on the rough side, mostly the record of sad, sorry lives. But there's also humor and a wee bit of charm, glowing nuggets amidst the blood. If you want your fiction hard, fast, and dirty, this is for you.
November 22, 2025
This is my first time reading this author and it was great. I like the short stories and the tone of his Thuglit writing style. This was different, unique and entertaining. Great fun and highly recommended.
October 28, 2016
Some cool little stories in this little book. Lots of typos scattered throughout, but they're strong stories and can handle a little messiness.
April 7, 2018
I am a huge fan of Todd Robinson because of his humorous and often dark style, and this is still my favorite collection of short stories by a single author.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews