Reading the 20th Century discussion

You probably don’t me to tell you that Jim Thompson was author of more than 20 novels including The Killer Inside Me, Pop. 1280 and The Grifters.

Thompson created a sinister army of corrupt police, cunning con-artists and psychopathic murderers

Any fans in the house?

I'm a few chapters into...



Pop. 1280 (1964)

by

Jim Thompson



Absolutely loving it so far

Been many moons since I read any JT and now I'm wondering why I've left it so long




The edition of Pop. 1280 that I'm reading also has a fabulous introduction by Charlie Higson




Nick Corey is a terrible sheriff on purpose. He doesn't solve problems, enforce rules or arrest criminals. He knows that nobody in tiny Potts County actually wants to follow the law and he is perfectly content lazing about, eating five meals a day, and sleeping with all the eligible women.

Still, Nick has some very complex problems to deal with. Two local pimps have been sassing him, ruining his already tattered reputation. His girlfriend Rose is being terrorized by her husband. And then, there's his wife and her brother Lenny who won't stop troubling Nick's already stressed mind. Are they a little too close for a brother and a sister?

With an election coming up, Nick needs to fix his problems and fast. Because the one thing Nick does know is that he will do anything to stay sheriff. Because, as it turns out, Sheriff Nick Corey is not nearly as dumb as he seems.

In Pop. 1280 , widely regarded as a classic of mid-20th century crime, Thompson offers up one of his best, in a tale of lust, murder, and betrayal in the Deep South that was the basis for the critically acclaimed French film Coup de Torchon .

Nigeyb wrote: "You probably don’t me to tell you that Jim Thompson was author of more than 20 novels including The Killer Inside Me, Pop. 1280 and The Grifters."

I've never read Jim Thompson and only vaguely know the name but sounds good - is he a kind of precedent to people like James Ellroy and David Peace?

Exactly that RC


Knocking out pulp fiction for a fast buck but being adventurous and transgressive within the constraints of reader expectations

No surprise there have been quite a few cinematic adaptations

I'm racing through Jim Thompson's Pop. 1280 (1964).


Nick Corey, the corrupt sheriff of Potts County is a fabulously grotesque creation: lazy, self serving, conniving, and cunning, and who hides his sly cleverness behind a mask of stupidity. A perfect noir protagonist. He does as little work as possible, preferring to eat, sleep and have sex with as many women as he can.

This tale of small town America is set in the early twentieth century and Potts County is populated by crooked violent lawmen, pimps and their whores, incest, wife beaters, racists, philanderers, murderers, corrupt politicians, vindictive women, a mentally challenged peeping tom, and religious zealots. It's quite the cast.

Despite all the misanthropic content it's actually very entertaining and occasionally laugh out loud funny.

I've never read him. But I did like the movie of The Grifters.

A shame you don't enjoy his books


I am love love loving Pop 1280 - should finish it this very day

Like you, I really enjoyed the film adaptation of The Grifters and look forward to reading the book. I'm going to read his bibliography now.

All hail JT 🙌🏻

‘The Killer Inside Me’ - brilliant, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Can't wait to get stuck in Ian ❤️‍🔥

Nigeyb wrote:



"I'm racing through Jim Thompson's Pop. 1280 (1964)."



Finished now and I loved it

Looking forward to reading JT's other titles


Review...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

5/5

🙋 read Killer inside and grifters so far. I’m glad there is other stuff of his that’s good too

Thanks Kit


Good to know I'm not just ploughing a lonely furrow

Will most certainly be reading those two JT titles in the near future

^ nope, I’m a big fan 🤩

👏🏻

You make him sound very tempting, I've seen the adaptations of The Grifters and The Killer Inside Me, both fascinating and gloriously gritty.

I had an omnibus as a kid, which I liked, but it was only going back just recently that made me realise he really is something special Alwynne. Watch this space.

Needless to say, I would also be very interested in what you made of his work should you ever decide to give him a go.

Interesting about JT and his work including our August 2026 group read of The Getaway….



https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...




Sergio is joined by novelist, blogger and podcaster Jim Noy to enthuse about the work of writer Jim Thompson, the sui generis maestro of 50s and 60's Noir. We explore some of Thompson's major themes, his often psychopathic protagonists and his horrifying and frequently surreal endings - and look in detail at such classic books as The Killers Inside Me, A Hell of a Woman, The Grifters, After Dark, My Sweet and Pop. 1280 (all of which have been filmed)
Jim Thompson's crime fiction bibliography includes the following novels:

Nothing More Than Murder (1949)
The Killer Inside Me (1952)
Cropper's Cabin (1952)
Recoil (1953)
The Alcoholics (1953)
Savage Night (1953)
Bad Boy (1953)
The Criminal (1953)
The Nothing Man (1954)
The Golden Gizmo (1954)
Roughneck (1954)
A Swell-Looking Babe (1954)
A Hell of a Woman (1954)
After Dark, My Sweet (1955)
The Kill-Off (1957)
Wild Town (1957)
The Getaway (1958)
The Transgressors (1961)
The Grifters (1963)
Pop. 1280 (1964)

I've finally gotten ahold of the new Library of America omnibus Jim Thompson: Five Noir Novels of the 1950s & 60s (#399): A Hell of a Woman / After Dark, My Sweet / The Getaway / The Grifters / Pop. 1280! Excited to finally be diving into this. I'll post about The Getaway on the dedicated thread when I get to it but will mention the others here.

You're in for a treat Rose