Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson

by Robert Polito

Book Overview

Robert Polito recounts Thompson's relationship with his father, a disgraced Oklahoma sheriff, with the women he adored in life and murdered on the page, with alcohol, would-be censors, and Hollywood auteurs. Unrelenting and empathetic, casting light into the darker caverns of our collective psyche, Savage Art is an exemplary homage to an American original. A National Book Critics Circle Award winner. 57 photos.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679733523
• ISBN13: 9780679733522
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Thorough and well written

I highly recommend this 1995 National Book Award winner. Thorough and utterly engrossing, Savage Art will satisfy both longtime Thompson fans and neophytes, providing stunning insight into the man as well as the autobiographical aspects of his ofttimes sordid fictional output. Definitely a must read for those who appreciate noir.

Interesting, illuminating, meticulously researched.

Savage Art is a truly remarkable work of scholarship. In it, Robert Polito meticulously separates out fact from the considerable amount of mythology that surrounds Jim Thompson's life. Since so much of what Thompson wrote is autobiographical in origin, a knowledge of Thompson's very unusual life history helps the reader better appreciate his work. So it is not at all hard to argue that this is not only a well written and fascinating biography, it is an important one as well. Polito explains, in exacting detail, how Thompson's life and consequently his writing was influenced by the interpersonal and societal forces he encountered as he matured. To put it another way. Jim Thompson's worldview was shaped, nurtured and, some would say, warped by his life experiences. He then took this unique worldview and used it to interpret the self same experiences which formed it. The result is Thompson's very significant contribution to 20th century American fiction. Dark, disturbing books inhabited by sad, desperate characters trapped in hideous circumstances. These are novels that boldly explore areas that would otherwise be unexplorable. Savage Art is very much a monumental achievement. Essential reading for Jim Thompson fans.

The Definitive Bio on Thompson

If there was ever an American original, it's Jim Thompson. His dark and deranged world-view, expressed in a series of cheap paperbacks in the fifties and sixties, revels in the that part of the American psyche that we ignore and are afraid to look at. Polito's detailed bio explains where Thompson came from, and the events that molded him into the premier writer of American noir. Even if you aren't interested in Thompson and his work, this is an exquisite biography.

Amazing Detail and Research

I didn't think it was possible to write a full-scale biography of Thompson because of his scattered, secret life. But Polito has pulled off the seemingly impossible. He gathers together unexpected facts from obscure sources in places all over the country. He combines this with excellent, insightful analysis of this tortured writer's work. When I first read Thompson's novels back in the mid-'80's, it felt like my brain was being turned inside out. I was so astonished I went out and bought every one. Now thanks to Polito we can begin to understand the sources of the horror and the humanity of his novels.

Excellent scruitny of a dark and edgy writer.

Since I read a Jim Thompson novel for the first time, I though he was truly one of America's most gifted and important writers. A literary heir to the likes of Chandler and Cain, he was, like them, able to raise the mystery genre to a whole new level of American literature. Of course, whether you like Thompson's work or not, is entirely subjective, but if you admire him as much as I do. "Savage Art" by Ron Polito is an important key to understanding Thompson and his work. Like most independent geniuses, Thompson led a hard and often lonely life which he put into his writing. HIs characters wear masks so much that they often don't know who they are. Polito picks up on this recurring theme and uses it to explore Thompson's turbulent life and use of masks. This book made me appreciate Thompson even more and I've reread all of his books since finishing "it. This bio is truly a key to understanding and appreciating Thompson's work to it fullest extent.