PULP ORIGINALS
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"Jason Starr is the first writer of his generation to convincingly update the modern crime novel by giving it provocative new spins...." ~ Brett Easton Ellis
Jason Starr is the author of Cold Caller, Nothing Personal, Fake I.D., Hard Feelings and Tough Luck. Born in Brooklyn in 1966, he lives in New York, and has set his novels mainly there. His dark, tense thrillers have earned him a place as one of the true heirs of the classic writers of American noir. His work is repeatedly compared to that of James M. Cain, Jim Thompson and other great mid-century writers (Charles Willeford, for example, and Patricia Highsmith): Entertainment Weekly calls his Hard Feelings ‘a throwback to the spare, snappy crime writing of Jim Thompson and James M. Cain’; Kirkus says of Cold Caller, “Just the thing for fans who miss the acid noir that Jim Thompson dispensed in The Grifters."
Although Starr is understandably wary of comparisons to earlier writers, there is, he agrees, much he shares with the noir tradition (“I write dark crime novels, usually with amoral protagonists”). Equally, however, it is the sheer quality of his writing that prompts the comparisons. His work is taut, edgy, darkly humorous and tightly plotted. Brett Easton Ellis’s praise of Hard Feelings is clearly a tribute to Starr’s combination of noir themes and technical mastery: the novel, Ellis says, “has a brutal escalation of tension, pungent dialogue, a hardboiled simplicity and grace, and a whopper of an ending…As you race through it you realize that Jim Thompson has just moved to Manhattan."
Starr’s enjoyment of and respect for the traditions of mid-century American crime writing are evident from his own site, and also, for example, from "My Black Lizard Story," a recent article he wrote for Powells.com on his discovery of '50s crime fiction. Of his first encounter with Jim Thompson, he writes, “I'd never read anything like it before. The writing was clear and fast paced, and it didn't take itself too seriously. It was hilarious and disgusting at the same time, and it had an enjoyable, nasty edge that made you feel dirty but good. It was definitely the type of page-turner you don't forget about a day or two after you read it.” This enthusiasm for classic noir is obviously one of the things that makes him so appropriate a writer to introduce the first novel to be reissued by Pulp Originals. We are very grateful for Jason Starr’s support in this project – and eagerly await the publication of his own forthcoming novel, Twisted City, due out in May 2004 with Vintage Crime/Black Lizard.
Links:Jason Starr’s own website is at: http://www.jasonstarr.com
For 'My Black Lizard Story,' the feature article that Jason Starr wrote on his discovery of 50s pulp and Black Lizard crime novels, see: http://www.powells.com/fromtheauthor/starr.html
There is a recent interview with Jason Starr in CRIME FACTORY at:
http://www.crimefactory.net/cfOLM-001d.htmlAllan Guthrie has devoted the most recent issue (2 August 2003) of his e-zine NOIR ORGINALS to Jason Starr’s books ("The Starr Issue"): this offers reviews of all his books, excerpts and a long interview. See: http://www.allanguthrie.co.uk/noirzine.htm
Jason Starr’s publishers:
VINTAGE CRIME/BLACK LIZARD (US): http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/blacklizard/index.htmlNO EXIT PRESS (UK): http://www.noexit.co.uk/
DIOGENES (German publisher): http://www.diogenes.ch/
MERIDIANO ZERO (Italian publisher): http://www.meridianozero.it/
READ CHAPTER OF THE DEVIL WEARS WINGS BUY THE DEVIL WEARS WINGS
READ WHITTINGTON'S 'I REMEMBER IT WELL'
READ JASON STARR'S INTRODUCTION TO HARRY WHITTINGTON
READ CHAPTER OF SQUEEZE PLAY BUY SQUEEZE PLAY
READ JASON STARR'S INTRODUCTION TO JAMES McKIMMEY
Link to: Crimeculture Noir Originals
