"Because Murder is More Fun Away From Home"
"Manduwoc is a seacoast town, a few hours train-ride from New York City. It is too far from the city for commuting; there are no local industries. According to the last census, the population was 1,280 and I doubt that it has increased since then."What was with Thompson and the number 1,280?
Labels: Jim Thompson, noir
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 1:07 AM
This blog is a proud winner of the 2009 Spinetingler Award for special services to the industry and its blogkeeper a proud former guest on Wisconsin Public Radio's Here on Earth. In civilian life I'm a copy editor in Philadelphia. When not reading crime fiction, I like to read history. When doing neither, I like to travel. When doing none of the above, I like listening to music or playing it, the latter rarely and badly. Click here to find an independent bookstore near you.
4 Comments:
I have been pretty scared to read most of his work.
The first Thompson I read was Savage Night, probably his scariest. I read it late at night, in bed, and I emerged scarred but the psychologically well adjusted creature I remain today.
A lot of authors have their schtick or their signature and 1280 seems to be Thompson's. All in good fun, I think.
I love the opener and wonder how much excitement can be summoned in a work of fiction set in a town with just 1280 people. I can't wait to find out.
I figured as much. I didn't think 1,280 held some deep psychological meaning. It's a good number for a tiny town, though. A three-figure population might have seemed a joke. 1,280 is large enough a population to be plausible, small enough to be claustrophobic.
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