The John Franklin Bardin Omnibus

by John Franklin Bardin, Julian Symons (Introduction)

Between 1946 and 1948 John Franklin Bardin produced three quite extraordinary novels, all distinguished by a hallucinatory intensity of feeling and an absorption in morbid psychology remarkable for the period.

The Deadly Percheron, The Last of Philip Banter and Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly are unlike anything else in modern crime literature.

For the first time all three have been gathered together in a single volume, and at long last reintroduce the work of a great and original writer.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction

602 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 1976

About the author

John Franklin Bardin was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 30, 1916. During his teens, he lost nearly all his immediate family to various ailments. As he approached thirty, he moved to New York City where during his adulthood he was an executive of an advertising agency, published ten novels and taught creative writing as well as advertising at the NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH.

In 1946, Bardin entered a period of intense creativity during which he wrote three crime novels that were relatively unsuccessful at first, one of them not even being published in America until the late 1960s, but which have since become well-regarded cult novels. His best-regarded works, The Deadly Percheron, The Last of Philip Banter and Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly experienced renewed interest in the 1970s when they were discovered by British readers.

Also involved in public relations and journalism, Mr. Bardin resided thereafter in New York City until his death.

Reviews

[Tom Lichtenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bardin (as well as John Fante) was like a bridge between Dashiell Hammett and Philip K. Dick, between Raymond Chandler and David Lynch. He's hard-boiled, yet psychedelic, traditional yet wildly futuristic. The three novels contained in this volume are all pretty stunning.

[Simon Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have any love of 40's and 50's detective writing find this book! One of the great unknown treasures of the past - John Franklin Bardin wrote three great stories and then edited a law revue for the rest of his life and never wrote about gumshoes again (as I recall the story from several decades ago). All three have been collected in this Omnibus which will not disappoint fans of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.

[Kumari de Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

One wonders what would have happened if Bardin could have finished college because he's so damn good as a self taught writer. I think the one thing you can't teach a person is how to have a good idea. Some people have good ideas but they aren't good at pacing, reveal, cadence, motif, or themes so they write what I call a "HAITE" story as in Here's An Idea, The End. But that is not what's happening here. Here is the grandfather of all unreliable narration. These stories are so creative, so unique. If you like film noir, you'll love 'em.

[Raistlin Skelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Deadly Percheron 4/5

The fact that Bardin is not more widely known is an absolute god damn crime.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thrillers that make employment of psychoanalytic concepts to chilling effect. Enjoying Bardin’s work may require some suspension of intertextual knowledge: while some of the things he represents in these novels were new when he wrote, they have since become clichéd, having been reused in “movie of the week” type drama on television.

Acquired Feb 8, 2008
City Lights Book Shop, London, Ontario

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like reading a david lynch movie. Great, weird stuff.

[Susanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evocative psychological thrillers. I'm not sure people think that many steps ahead....but what a great world he brings to life.