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Stark
Ex-con. Author. Actor. Legend. Edward Bunker is one of the acknowledged masters of crime fiction. Written in the late 1960's and discovered after Bunker's death in 2005, Stark is his first and perhaps his most explosive novel ever.
1962. Oceanview, California. The girls are beautiful. The dope is cheap. The squares here are ripe for the plucking--easy money for a man with a plan. Ernie Stark is a hophead and a grifter out to make a big score. If he has to screw over everyone in town, he will. The problem is one more misstep will find him locked up for good.
Violent, lightening paced and exotic, filed with the most wonderful cast of lowlifes you'll ever meet and dialogue that crackles, this is the lost novel for mystery lovers everywhere and the legion of fans of the legendary Edward Bunker.
1962. Oceanview, California. The girls are beautiful. The dope is cheap. The squares here are ripe for the plucking--easy money for a man with a plan. Ernie Stark is a hophead and a grifter out to make a big score. If he has to screw over everyone in town, he will. The problem is one more misstep will find him locked up for good.
Violent, lightening paced and exotic, filed with the most wonderful cast of lowlifes you'll ever meet and dialogue that crackles, this is the lost novel for mystery lovers everywhere and the legion of fans of the legendary Edward Bunker.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
13 people are currently reading
340 people want to read
About the author
Edward Bunker
19 books275 followersEdward Heward Bunker was an American author of crime fiction, a screenwriter, and an actor.
He wrote numerous books, some of which have been adapted into films.
Bunker was a bright but troublesome child, who spent much of his childhood in different foster homes and institutions.
He started on a criminal career at a very early age, and continued on this path throughout the years, returning to prison again and again.
He was convicted of bank robbery, drug dealing, extortion, armed robbery, and forgery.
A repeating pattern of convictions, paroles, releases and escapes, further crimes and new convictions continued until he was released yet again from prison in 1975, at which point he finally left his criminal days permanently behind and became a writer.
Bunker stayed out of jail thereafter, and instead focused on his career as a writer and actor.
He wrote numerous books, some of which have been adapted into films.
Bunker was a bright but troublesome child, who spent much of his childhood in different foster homes and institutions.
He started on a criminal career at a very early age, and continued on this path throughout the years, returning to prison again and again.
He was convicted of bank robbery, drug dealing, extortion, armed robbery, and forgery.
A repeating pattern of convictions, paroles, releases and escapes, further crimes and new convictions continued until he was released yet again from prison in 1975, at which point he finally left his criminal days permanently behind and became a writer.
Bunker stayed out of jail thereafter, and instead focused on his career as a writer and actor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
February 17, 2022
Que esta novela fuera editada post-mortem y fuera encontrada entre papeles como quién desecha un panfleto de propaganda que alguien te ha dado por la calle dice mucho del pedazo de escritor que era Edward Bunker.
Bunker crea personajes, te los vende y tu los compras. Los compras porqué los cuida, los dota de detalles, de incoherencias, de pensamiento. Es capaz de hacer que una rata como Ernie Stark te caiga bien a veces. A veces porqué, en general, es un mal tipo. Un estafador, un bribón, un yonqui (aunque él lo niegue aún con la aguja en la vena) y un traidor que vendería a su madre para salvarse de la cárcel.
Bunker construye una historia alrededor de Stark. Una buena historia, muy entretenida y que se debe saborear rápido porqué el final es un poco precipitado. Los personajes secundarios son geniales: Momo, el yonqui hawaiano; Dummy, el mudo que no es mudo y que da miedo; Crowley, el teniente de narcóticos que utiliza a Stark o al revés porqué no queda muy claro; Dorie, la modelo que acaba enganchada a tipos como Stark.
La historia daba para 100 páginas más, pero tal vez hubiera sido su próximo proyecto literario.
Nunca lo sabremos.
-----------------------------------------
That this novel was edited post-mortem and was found among papers like someone discarding a propaganda leaflet that someone has given you in the street says a lot about what a great writer Edward Bunker was.
Bunker creates characters, sells them to you and you buy them. You buy them because he takes care of them, he gives them details, inconsistencies, thoughts. He's able to make you like a rat like Ernie Stark sometimes. Sometimes because, in general, he's a bad guy. A swindler, a crook, a junkie (although he denies it even with the needle in his vein) and a traitor who would sell his mother to save himself from prison.
Bunker builds a story around Stark. A good story, very entertaining and to be savoured quickly because the ending is a bit rushed. The supporting characters are great: Momo, the Hawaiian junkie; Dummy, the mute who is not mute and who is scary; Crowley, the narcotics lieutenant who uses Stark or the other way around because it is not very clear; Dorie, the model who ends up hooked on guys like Stark.
The story could have gone on for another 100 pages, but maybe that would have been his next literary project.
We will never know.
Bunker crea personajes, te los vende y tu los compras. Los compras porqué los cuida, los dota de detalles, de incoherencias, de pensamiento. Es capaz de hacer que una rata como Ernie Stark te caiga bien a veces. A veces porqué, en general, es un mal tipo. Un estafador, un bribón, un yonqui (aunque él lo niegue aún con la aguja en la vena) y un traidor que vendería a su madre para salvarse de la cárcel.
Bunker construye una historia alrededor de Stark. Una buena historia, muy entretenida y que se debe saborear rápido porqué el final es un poco precipitado. Los personajes secundarios son geniales: Momo, el yonqui hawaiano; Dummy, el mudo que no es mudo y que da miedo; Crowley, el teniente de narcóticos que utiliza a Stark o al revés porqué no queda muy claro; Dorie, la modelo que acaba enganchada a tipos como Stark.
La historia daba para 100 páginas más, pero tal vez hubiera sido su próximo proyecto literario.
Nunca lo sabremos.
-----------------------------------------
That this novel was edited post-mortem and was found among papers like someone discarding a propaganda leaflet that someone has given you in the street says a lot about what a great writer Edward Bunker was.
Bunker creates characters, sells them to you and you buy them. You buy them because he takes care of them, he gives them details, inconsistencies, thoughts. He's able to make you like a rat like Ernie Stark sometimes. Sometimes because, in general, he's a bad guy. A swindler, a crook, a junkie (although he denies it even with the needle in his vein) and a traitor who would sell his mother to save himself from prison.
Bunker builds a story around Stark. A good story, very entertaining and to be savoured quickly because the ending is a bit rushed. The supporting characters are great: Momo, the Hawaiian junkie; Dummy, the mute who is not mute and who is scary; Crowley, the narcotics lieutenant who uses Stark or the other way around because it is not very clear; Dorie, the model who ends up hooked on guys like Stark.
The story could have gone on for another 100 pages, but maybe that would have been his next literary project.
We will never know.
May 21, 2021
it is a book. it is a book i read. i read it.
August 15, 2020
El Bunker que más me ha gustado que he leído por ahora. Con Ernie Stark consigue un personaje memorable, un estafador con todas las letras y ningún código moral. Un guión sorprendente y veraz. Una gran novela criminal.
August 26, 2016
Edito postumo da Einaudi, a poco più di un anno dalla sua morte, è il primo vero romanzo di Edward Bunker. Stark non brilla certo per originalità della storia ed intreccio narrativo, ma non mancano tratti che si rincontreranno nelle sue opere successive.
Nell'introduzione James Ellroy scrive: "Leggetelo. Vi metterà voglia di fregare qualcuno e di bucarvi. In questo momento anch'io sono qui che sbavo per una pera".
Forse è andato volutamente un po' oltre, James Ellroy, ma il senso è chiaro: Stark affascina. Anche se siamo lontani dai risultati ottenuti con "Cane mangia cane", "Animal Factory" e "Come una bestia feroce", è difficile non schierarsi con il protagonista, tossico truffatore pronto a tradire tutto e tutti.
Nell'introduzione James Ellroy scrive: "Leggetelo. Vi metterà voglia di fregare qualcuno e di bucarvi. In questo momento anch'io sono qui che sbavo per una pera".
Forse è andato volutamente un po' oltre, James Ellroy, ma il senso è chiaro: Stark affascina. Anche se siamo lontani dai risultati ottenuti con "Cane mangia cane", "Animal Factory" e "Come una bestia feroce", è difficile non schierarsi con il protagonista, tossico truffatore pronto a tradire tutto e tutti.
October 12, 2018
This was the first book Edward Bunker wrote and the last one to be published and it's magnifique.
June 16, 2017
"Ernie Stark was not the nicest guy you'd meet. Ask his friends. If he had any. He was a two bit hustler who dreamt that the next score would be the big one. The one that would put him on easy street. But too often, he was outsmarted. If not by the sucker, then by the law."
So begins this short novel (180+ pages) by Edward Bunker. Stark is an amoral junkie, hustler, recently turned informer.
I really enjoyed this, perhaps as much as 'Animal Factory'. Published after Bunker's death, i would recommend this to anyone not yet familiar with Edward Bunker's crime fiction.
"Dummy watched; his ice blue eyes gave away nothing, but seemed to see everything. He was like a cobra, wound up and ready to spring. He was cold. Real cold.
A chorus of raucous laughter exploded from the table of marines as one of them leaned too far back in his chair and crashed to the floor. The jukebox dropped another platter to the turntable, and a trumpet sound screamed into the smoke and laughter and tinkling glasses. The Panama Club throbbed with frenzied people and the neon life, trying to escape reality."
So begins this short novel (180+ pages) by Edward Bunker. Stark is an amoral junkie, hustler, recently turned informer.
I really enjoyed this, perhaps as much as 'Animal Factory'. Published after Bunker's death, i would recommend this to anyone not yet familiar with Edward Bunker's crime fiction.
"Dummy watched; his ice blue eyes gave away nothing, but seemed to see everything. He was like a cobra, wound up and ready to spring. He was cold. Real cold.
A chorus of raucous laughter exploded from the table of marines as one of them leaned too far back in his chair and crashed to the floor. The jukebox dropped another platter to the turntable, and a trumpet sound screamed into the smoke and laughter and tinkling glasses. The Panama Club throbbed with frenzied people and the neon life, trying to escape reality."
July 4, 2023
"El mundo sufre, nena. Todo el puto mundo lo pasa mal. Es una selva llena de leones, zorros y serpientes. Yo soy todo eso cuando la ocasión así lo requiere".
Stark vive en el submundo de Los Ángeles, es un adicto a la heroína y un delincuente que la va pasando gracias a pequeñas estafas que hace. Un buen día se ve en la necesidad de colaborar con la policía para evitar de nuevo la cárcel, y es cuando tiene que hacer alarde de sus habilidades.
Stark vive en el submundo de Los Ángeles, es un adicto a la heroína y un delincuente que la va pasando gracias a pequeñas estafas que hace. Un buen día se ve en la necesidad de colaborar con la policía para evitar de nuevo la cárcel, y es cuando tiene que hacer alarde de sus habilidades.
February 12, 2016
My only problem with this amazing book is that the last 20 or so pages just didn't ring true. I was left wondering if commercial considerations (understandable given that even writers have to pay the rent and buy groceries) prompted Bunker to end Stark the way he did. Regardless, it's a great read and an amazing peek into a dead end cul de sac of endless cons and fixes.
October 25, 2011
Il concetto lo si trova già nelle recensioni dei (semi)professionisti online.
Confermo che se si sono già letti e amati i suoi libri "maggiori" è un addendum obbligatorio per vedere come scriveva agli inizi. Se poi si considera che la sua produzione è stata molto limitata è naturale che un suo lettore affezionato arriverà a leggere anche Stark, non fosse altro che per una sorta di crisi di astinenza nei suoi confronti.
Se invece non si è letto nulla di suo non è consigliato, si potrebbe restare delusi, meglio cominciare da altro.
Storicamente importante, stilisticamente prescindibile.
Confermo che se si sono già letti e amati i suoi libri "maggiori" è un addendum obbligatorio per vedere come scriveva agli inizi. Se poi si considera che la sua produzione è stata molto limitata è naturale che un suo lettore affezionato arriverà a leggere anche Stark, non fosse altro che per una sorta di crisi di astinenza nei suoi confronti.
Se invece non si è letto nulla di suo non è consigliato, si potrebbe restare delusi, meglio cominciare da altro.
Storicamente importante, stilisticamente prescindibile.
July 22, 2018
4.4 Stars
Milton
Milton
January 25, 2019
Raw writing, beautiful and deadly like glass.
December 21, 2020
Al leer a Edward Bunker me cuesta mucho trabajo separar al autor de su obra. Me causa una gran fascinación (morbosa, quizás) saber que estoy leyendo a un criminal que pasó gran parte de su vida entrando y saliendo de la cárcel. Un criminal que encerrado en una celda descubrió su vocación como autor y que decidió verter en la hoja en blanco todo su conocimiento sobre los bajos mundos del crimen californiano. Se trata de una experiencia de vida que vuelve muy ricos a sus personajes, sus dilemas y crisis pero que sobre todo los hace sumamente auténticos.
Sin embargo, Stark es quizás la menos afortunada de las lecturas que he realizado hasta ahora de Edward Bunker. Se dice que fue su primera novela pero que estuvo guardada en un cajón hasta que después de su muerte (2005) un editor malintencionado tuvo a bien publicarla.
No es mala en realidad. Se trata de una especie de novela negra invertida: mantiene todos los elementos (como la mujer fatal, por ejemplo) y el ritmo pero en lugar de ser un detective su protagonista es un drogadicto y estafador. Un heroinómano que se ve envuelto en una serie de enredos mientras fantasea con la idea de convertirse narco.
Se trata de una lectura amena con bastante folk californiano y sus buenas dosis de gore. Pero que no alcanza las elocuencias trepidantes a las que Edward Bunker me tenía acostumbrado como el asalto a la joyería en No hay bestia tan feroz o esa desgarradora secuencia final de Perro come perro.
En definitiva es una buena novela para los fans pero no para quienes tienen un primer acercamiento con el autor. Para ellos queda mejor los libros antes mencionados: No hay bestia tan feroz o Perro come perro.
Sin embargo, Stark es quizás la menos afortunada de las lecturas que he realizado hasta ahora de Edward Bunker. Se dice que fue su primera novela pero que estuvo guardada en un cajón hasta que después de su muerte (2005) un editor malintencionado tuvo a bien publicarla.
No es mala en realidad. Se trata de una especie de novela negra invertida: mantiene todos los elementos (como la mujer fatal, por ejemplo) y el ritmo pero en lugar de ser un detective su protagonista es un drogadicto y estafador. Un heroinómano que se ve envuelto en una serie de enredos mientras fantasea con la idea de convertirse narco.
Se trata de una lectura amena con bastante folk californiano y sus buenas dosis de gore. Pero que no alcanza las elocuencias trepidantes a las que Edward Bunker me tenía acostumbrado como el asalto a la joyería en No hay bestia tan feroz o esa desgarradora secuencia final de Perro come perro.
En definitiva es una buena novela para los fans pero no para quienes tienen un primer acercamiento con el autor. Para ellos queda mejor los libros antes mencionados: No hay bestia tan feroz o Perro come perro.
June 2, 2025
Altro libro di Edward Bunker che mi ha appassionato molto.
Alcuni lo reputano meno interessante di altri suoi romanzi, ma a me è piaciuto al pari di “Cane mangia cane” per esempio.
È la storia di un doppiogiochista, un criminale da poco che cerca di mantenere l’equilibrio fra il suo essere un informatore della polizia, un criminale da due tacche e, un tossicodipendente.
Sta sempre sul punto di essere arrestato in quanto la sua posizione lo lascia senza armi, senza informazioni importanti da dare alla polizia. Non serve più ai poliziotti che gli danno degli ultimatum.
Allo stesso tempo non vuole andare in galera, anche per paura di avere a che fare con le crisi d’astinenza.
Perciò escogita un piano che è a metà fra una truffa e un grande progetto criminale.
Finale un po’ strano, sorprendente ma probabilmente non ponderato, mi ha dato un senso di acerbo.
Questo è un romanzo pubblicato postumo nonostante sia il primo che lui abbia mai scritto, in una delle sue prime esperienze carcerarie.
Menomale che qualcuno si sia impegnato a recuperarlo per regalarcelo.
Alcuni lo reputano meno interessante di altri suoi romanzi, ma a me è piaciuto al pari di “Cane mangia cane” per esempio.
È la storia di un doppiogiochista, un criminale da poco che cerca di mantenere l’equilibrio fra il suo essere un informatore della polizia, un criminale da due tacche e, un tossicodipendente.
Sta sempre sul punto di essere arrestato in quanto la sua posizione lo lascia senza armi, senza informazioni importanti da dare alla polizia. Non serve più ai poliziotti che gli danno degli ultimatum.
Allo stesso tempo non vuole andare in galera, anche per paura di avere a che fare con le crisi d’astinenza.
Perciò escogita un piano che è a metà fra una truffa e un grande progetto criminale.
Finale un po’ strano, sorprendente ma probabilmente non ponderato, mi ha dato un senso di acerbo.
Questo è un romanzo pubblicato postumo nonostante sia il primo che lui abbia mai scritto, in una delle sue prime esperienze carcerarie.
Menomale che qualcuno si sia impegnato a recuperarlo per regalarcelo.
June 8, 2025
Desde que leí No hay bestia tan feroz, Edward Bunker parece haberse incorporado a ese club reservado a autores a los que recurro una vez al año. No son muchos. Emmanuel Carrere, Míchel Houellebecq, Ursula K. Leguin, Agota Kristof y Aleksievich antes de que terminara con su obra publicada y traducida. Es una manera como otra cualquiera de leer. Permite que la obra de un autor dure más. Como un plato tan delicioso en el que disfrutas y administras cada cucharada para prolongar sus efectos. También permite que se disipe la influencia de un libro antes de volver al autor. Buscamos la sensación del primer libro, el novedoso, como los yonquis con cada chute trataban de rescatar la primera vez que la aguja penetró en el torrente sanguíneo.
Dejaremos al margen Huida del corredor de la muerte por tratarse de un libro de relatos y además de carácter póstumo. Stark es Edward Búnker pero presenta un abismo de divergencias respecto a No hay bestia tan feroz.
Ambas transitan por el margen de la sociedad. Bunker se vale de su propia experiencia como delincuente para aportar sustancia y credibilidad a una historia que entronca con los cánones de la novela negra más negra.
No olvidemos que Edward Búnker acumuló a lo largo de su vida condenas por extorsión, tráfico de drogas y atraco a mano armada. Su rostro llegó a figurar entre los 10 más buscados por el FBI. El tipo sabía de qué hablar cuando se refería al mundo criminal. De aquel pozo a convertirse en escritor de prestigio, guionista cinematográfico, actor en Mr. Blue en Reservoir dogs y musa de Quentin Tarantino.
Stark es un delincuente del montón. Un estafador y un yonqui. Pero, sobre todo, es un ego adherido a una persona. En Los Angeles, como el escenario habitual de Búnker, tiene lugar una historia que entronca con los cánones de la novela negra. A saber: una chica tan bonita como peligrosa, un contexto sórdido de narcotráfico y adicciones, un policía que está dispuesto a jugar sucio, un primo, un boss, un tipo duro, un aspirante a progresar sin escrúpulos como Stark. Es todo eso, pero también es Búnker.
Stark es también una obra póstuma. Su escritura se produjo cuando el propio Búnker se encontraba entre rejas en la cárcel de San Quintín.
Respecto a No hay bestia tan feroz la principal diferencia es su carácter de entretenimiento. Stark es más amena. Su lectura puede llegar a ser tan adictiva como los estupefacientes que sus personajes consumen. En cambio, es menos personal. Y, sobre todo, carece de la pretensión filosófica y del pensamiento que inunda las páginas de ese monstruo que es No hay bestia tan feroz. Stark es una obra de consumo rápido. Que se disfruta —mucho—, pero no deja el terrible poso de reflexión que caracteriza a su obra más importante. Una obra más oscura pero que deleita de la misma manera que otra de las grandes de Sajalin, Cárter de Ted Lewis. Como decimos sus seguidores más acérrimos. No hay Sajalin malo. Larga vida a Sajalin.
Dejaremos al margen Huida del corredor de la muerte por tratarse de un libro de relatos y además de carácter póstumo. Stark es Edward Búnker pero presenta un abismo de divergencias respecto a No hay bestia tan feroz.
Ambas transitan por el margen de la sociedad. Bunker se vale de su propia experiencia como delincuente para aportar sustancia y credibilidad a una historia que entronca con los cánones de la novela negra más negra.
No olvidemos que Edward Búnker acumuló a lo largo de su vida condenas por extorsión, tráfico de drogas y atraco a mano armada. Su rostro llegó a figurar entre los 10 más buscados por el FBI. El tipo sabía de qué hablar cuando se refería al mundo criminal. De aquel pozo a convertirse en escritor de prestigio, guionista cinematográfico, actor en Mr. Blue en Reservoir dogs y musa de Quentin Tarantino.
Stark es un delincuente del montón. Un estafador y un yonqui. Pero, sobre todo, es un ego adherido a una persona. En Los Angeles, como el escenario habitual de Búnker, tiene lugar una historia que entronca con los cánones de la novela negra. A saber: una chica tan bonita como peligrosa, un contexto sórdido de narcotráfico y adicciones, un policía que está dispuesto a jugar sucio, un primo, un boss, un tipo duro, un aspirante a progresar sin escrúpulos como Stark. Es todo eso, pero también es Búnker.
Stark es también una obra póstuma. Su escritura se produjo cuando el propio Búnker se encontraba entre rejas en la cárcel de San Quintín.
Respecto a No hay bestia tan feroz la principal diferencia es su carácter de entretenimiento. Stark es más amena. Su lectura puede llegar a ser tan adictiva como los estupefacientes que sus personajes consumen. En cambio, es menos personal. Y, sobre todo, carece de la pretensión filosófica y del pensamiento que inunda las páginas de ese monstruo que es No hay bestia tan feroz. Stark es una obra de consumo rápido. Que se disfruta —mucho—, pero no deja el terrible poso de reflexión que caracteriza a su obra más importante. Una obra más oscura pero que deleita de la misma manera que otra de las grandes de Sajalin, Cárter de Ted Lewis. Como decimos sus seguidores más acérrimos. No hay Sajalin malo. Larga vida a Sajalin.
July 9, 2024
Desde que arranqué a leer esta novela, todo el tiempo me sentía en una movie y eso me enganchó mucho. Cada personaje que aparecía me alucinaba y pensaba en cualquier momento, se viene un karatazo de un Bruce Lee. Fue un buen viaje este libro, personajes de la noche noche, textos fluidos y ese halo de Tarantino. Y como siempre que termino de leer, busco sobre el autor, algo más detallado, me entero que Edward Bunker es Mister Blue de "Perros de la Calle" y más flashie nuevamente con algunos pasajes de esta novela. Ya estoy buscando otra novela, porque bien vale la pena.
August 15, 2017
Good Bunker!!
Another good novel from Eddie Bunker....not his best.. however it is compelling enough to read in a few sessions. This is his first and that shows. Still his novel "No Beast So a Fierce" is the best of this genre and highly recommend the enjoyment that his work brings to the late night reader.
Another good novel from Eddie Bunker....not his best.. however it is compelling enough to read in a few sessions. This is his first and that shows. Still his novel "No Beast So a Fierce" is the best of this genre and highly recommend the enjoyment that his work brings to the late night reader.
November 27, 2020
Edward Bunker's first novel but the last to be published (after his death).
This is a relatively straightforward conman yarn with an intriguing central character and a thinly drawn supporting cast.
It doesn't sound promising but it turns out to be an excellent story, full of great dialogue and doublecrossing antics.
Definitely worth finding if you can
This is a relatively straightforward conman yarn with an intriguing central character and a thinly drawn supporting cast.
It doesn't sound promising but it turns out to be an excellent story, full of great dialogue and doublecrossing antics.
Definitely worth finding if you can
May 19, 2021
3,5
Stark è un truffatore che si trova invischiato in un grosso affare di eroina. Non è il miglior libro di Bunker ma si legge, come tutti i suoi romanzi, con grande piacere. C’è tutto il suo mondo: la droga, la malavita, gli spacciatori, le puttane, la scimmia per la droga e le fughe. Viva Edward Bunker.
Stark è un truffatore che si trova invischiato in un grosso affare di eroina. Non è il miglior libro di Bunker ma si legge, come tutti i suoi romanzi, con grande piacere. C’è tutto il suo mondo: la droga, la malavita, gli spacciatori, le puttane, la scimmia per la droga e le fughe. Viva Edward Bunker.
October 13, 2019
Tough guy crime novel that moves at a quick clip. Better than average. Written by a real criminal. It rounds at the corners and folds in on itself in a satisfying way. It’s got some punchiness that most of this style lack. I’m interested in reading his other stuff.
August 12, 2025
Me pareció que tiene buen ritmo.
No tiene relleno, todo parece ser útil para la historia o para la construcción de los personajes.
Los personajes no son "agradables sujetos", pero todos son interesantes.
Cronológicamente es su primera novela escrita; pero la última publicada (postmortem).
No tiene relleno, todo parece ser útil para la historia o para la construcción de los personajes.
Los personajes no son "agradables sujetos", pero todos son interesantes.
Cronológicamente es su primera novela escrita; pero la última publicada (postmortem).
October 2, 2021
Tremenda joya tenía guardada en el cajón el bueno de Eddie
January 14, 2023
1 of my top 3 authors
June 21, 2024
Me ha entretenido un montón. Un timador experimentado el tal Stark. Drogas, polis, bandas, cárcel. Un trama bien hilada.
Hay un par de cosillas de la traducción que me han chirriado.
Hay un par de cosillas de la traducción que me han chirriado.
September 2, 2013
PROTAGONIST: Ernie Stark, grifter and ex con
SETTING: 1962 California
SERIES: Debut
RATING: 3.5
We've all heard of unpublished works that are discovered years after a writer's death. Fortunately for us, the manuscript for Edward Bunker's first book was found not too long after his death in 2005 and has just been released (2008). STARK is a very interesting period piece, notable not so much for its literary attributes as for the signs it shows of a first-rate talent being born.
Oceanview, California, 1962: Ernie Stark has been released from prison and is settling into life as a low-level grifter when the local cop, Detective Lieutenant Patrick Crowley, puts the screws on him. If Stark doesn't find out who is providing drugs to local dealer Momo, Crowley will have Stark put back in prison. Ernie's never been a rat, but there is no way that he will go back to the joint if he doesn't have to. He earns Momo's trust by setting up a sweet deal that gets them both some easy money. After that, Momo is happy to have Ernie as a partner, but is still unwilling to name his source. Meanwhile, Momo's woman, Dorie Williams, who is living with him in order to get her drug fix, and Ernie find something in each other that they can't fight. This isn't one of those happily-ever-after love stories; it's more a case of mutual addiction and recognizing their weaknesses in each other.
STARK is a kind of combination pulp fiction/noir effort. Bunker's talents as a writer are obvious, but at this point, they are unpolished and somewhat raw. The plot meanders a bit, but he does pull off some surprises. The dialogue is sometimes a tad hokey, but it works in the context of the book. It's interesting that although Stark frequently resorts to violence and killing and leads a criminal kind of life, there isn't an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. That's just the way life is; you do whatever you must to survive without agonizing about it.
Bunker's personal story is probably more interesting than any book that he could write. He was convicted of numerous crimes since early childhood, including smashing a neighbor's backyard incinerator with a claw hammer at 3, setting fire to a neighbor's garage at 4 and jamming a fork in a boy's eyeball at 15. He became the youngest ever inmate of San Quentin at the age of 17, and there he learned survival skills and faced down the toughest prisoners in the system. Over the next 18 years, he was convicted of bank robbery, drug dealing, extortion, armed robbery, and forgery. A repeating pattern of convictions, paroles, releases and escapes, further crimes and new convictions continued until 1975, at which point he finally left his criminal days permanently behind and became a writer and even an actor. His most famous role was as Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs.
If you're a fan of Bunker's four other books or the great pulp fiction works of the 50s, you're going to love STARK, in spite of the fact that it's imperfect at best. But you know that Bunker has walked those mean streets and shot up those drugs and hung out with the whores and down-and-outs who live in this book, and that adds an edge that can't be achieved without having been there.
SETTING: 1962 California
SERIES: Debut
RATING: 3.5
We've all heard of unpublished works that are discovered years after a writer's death. Fortunately for us, the manuscript for Edward Bunker's first book was found not too long after his death in 2005 and has just been released (2008). STARK is a very interesting period piece, notable not so much for its literary attributes as for the signs it shows of a first-rate talent being born.
Oceanview, California, 1962: Ernie Stark has been released from prison and is settling into life as a low-level grifter when the local cop, Detective Lieutenant Patrick Crowley, puts the screws on him. If Stark doesn't find out who is providing drugs to local dealer Momo, Crowley will have Stark put back in prison. Ernie's never been a rat, but there is no way that he will go back to the joint if he doesn't have to. He earns Momo's trust by setting up a sweet deal that gets them both some easy money. After that, Momo is happy to have Ernie as a partner, but is still unwilling to name his source. Meanwhile, Momo's woman, Dorie Williams, who is living with him in order to get her drug fix, and Ernie find something in each other that they can't fight. This isn't one of those happily-ever-after love stories; it's more a case of mutual addiction and recognizing their weaknesses in each other.
STARK is a kind of combination pulp fiction/noir effort. Bunker's talents as a writer are obvious, but at this point, they are unpolished and somewhat raw. The plot meanders a bit, but he does pull off some surprises. The dialogue is sometimes a tad hokey, but it works in the context of the book. It's interesting that although Stark frequently resorts to violence and killing and leads a criminal kind of life, there isn't an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. That's just the way life is; you do whatever you must to survive without agonizing about it.
Bunker's personal story is probably more interesting than any book that he could write. He was convicted of numerous crimes since early childhood, including smashing a neighbor's backyard incinerator with a claw hammer at 3, setting fire to a neighbor's garage at 4 and jamming a fork in a boy's eyeball at 15. He became the youngest ever inmate of San Quentin at the age of 17, and there he learned survival skills and faced down the toughest prisoners in the system. Over the next 18 years, he was convicted of bank robbery, drug dealing, extortion, armed robbery, and forgery. A repeating pattern of convictions, paroles, releases and escapes, further crimes and new convictions continued until 1975, at which point he finally left his criminal days permanently behind and became a writer and even an actor. His most famous role was as Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs.
If you're a fan of Bunker's four other books or the great pulp fiction works of the 50s, you're going to love STARK, in spite of the fact that it's imperfect at best. But you know that Bunker has walked those mean streets and shot up those drugs and hung out with the whores and down-and-outs who live in this book, and that adds an edge that can't be achieved without having been there.
March 20, 2020
book 5
April 7, 2010
It always seemed like Edward Bunker was writing the same novel, over and over again. No Beast So Fierce, Education of Felon, Dog Eat Dog, and Little Boy Blue were all thinly veiled autobiographies that held the same information: Bunker's criminal exploits, incarceration, and heroin use. His book The Animal Factory, was a slight departure as it wasn't first person narration – but it too had more of the same - facts and behaviors you could cross-reference from any of the above mentioned previous work. So it is strange that after his death his unpublished first novel would appear. In a lot of ways it is one of his better books. Not in that it deals with different subjects, or isn't autobiographical. No. More it's a stripped down noir-esque crime novel. And without Bunker putting "himself" into the story, he was able to pull it off without his usual bragging, bravado, and subsequent ego the other books are full of. Don't get me wrong. I think highly of Bunker. I've read everything he has ever written – some I have read twice – and although I don't think technically he was a great writer. I think he put in some work, tackled hard subject matter, overcame huge obstacles, and made a place for himself in the literary world. When I was just starting to write he was an inspiration – and he still is. It was great to read "new" work. And even greater to find he had done something a bit different.
October 19, 2015
Highly addictive pulp noir tale of a con-man with both the cops on his back and the junk in his pocket. The stylistic descriptive vein of Chandler and the plotting prowess of Hammet. Twists and turns, realistic characters, real dialogue, building tension and junky romance.
Edward Bunker wasn't just on of the the best formal criminal self-taught writer to hit the crime fiction shelves, he was one of the best ever crime writers to grace the genre. His Dod eat Dog was a fierce brew, Little Boy Blue an almost heart-rendering tale but Stark (discovered and published after his death), for me, beats both of these. Looking forward to reading more from Bunker.
Edward Bunker wasn't just on of the the best formal criminal self-taught writer to hit the crime fiction shelves, he was one of the best ever crime writers to grace the genre. His Dod eat Dog was a fierce brew, Little Boy Blue an almost heart-rendering tale but Stark (discovered and published after his death), for me, beats both of these. Looking forward to reading more from Bunker.
February 17, 2010
My rating bears in mind that this was his first novel, and for a raw writer it packs a great punch.
Even without knowing his background you can sense that this is not too far removed from reality.
The dialogue fizzes on the page and the characters whilst in the main are unsympathetic, you feel embroiled in their day to day lives.
The plot is fairly linear and transparent, but the sense of realism permeates the overall experience.
The ending is far from the usual neat tying off of all story strands and is refreshing, leaving you wanting more of the characters and their escapades.
Even without knowing his background you can sense that this is not too far removed from reality.
The dialogue fizzes on the page and the characters whilst in the main are unsympathetic, you feel embroiled in their day to day lives.
The plot is fairly linear and transparent, but the sense of realism permeates the overall experience.
The ending is far from the usual neat tying off of all story strands and is refreshing, leaving you wanting more of the characters and their escapades.
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