Thursday, February 14, 2019

Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson



(pb; 1964)

From the back cover

“Nick Corey is a terrible sheriff. He doesn’t solve problems, enforce rules, or arrest criminals. He knows that nobody in 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 situations 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 Lennie, who won’t stop troubling Nick’s already stressed mind. Are they a little too close for a brother and 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. And, as it turns out, Sheriff Nick Corey is not nearly as dumb as he seems.”


Review

Pop. 1280 is one of my favorite Thompson novels─it is sly, darkly hilarious and reworks the Southern, moralistic crime and punishment set-up by smashing it and putting it back together again in a twisted patchwork fashion. This is a masterful book, one of my favorite reads of 2019.

No comments: