The Friends of Eddie Coyle - Hardcover

Higgins, George V.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0436195801 ISBN 13: 9780436195808

Publisher: Secker & Warburg (1972)., 1972

Synopsis

Stated First Edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1972. 'The relentless realism and unglamorous nature of the characters in The Friends of Eddie Coyle was in sharp contrast to some other gangster novels of the era, particularly Mario Puzo's The Godfather, a more romanticized look at organized crime that later would be adapted into the popular 1972 film of the same name. The novel was an instant success, with Higgins receiving praise from Norman Mailer as "the American writer who is closest to Henry Green. What I can't get over is that so good a first novel was written by the fuzz." Ross MacDonald wrote that it was the "most powerful and frightening crime novel that I have read this year. It will be remembered long after the year is over, as marking the debut of a fine original talent." Elmore Leonard said that The Friends of Eddie Coyle was the best crime novel ever written, though Higgins hated being classified as a "crime writer". According to Leonard, "He saw himself as the Charles Dickens of crime in Boston instead of a crime writer. He just understood the human condition and he understood it most vividly in the language and actions among low lives."] The novel is featured in the series finale episode of Justified, "The Promise", during a scene where Raylan Givens clears out his desk while leaving the U.S. Marshals office.

About this title

Review

George V. Higgins's first novel is like a blast of Atlantic air; the Boston prosecutor virtually reinvents the language of the crime novel with his unique ability to breathe life into the dialogue of the smalltime hoodlum and hustler. Trying to pull off one final score, career crook Eddie Coyle finds himself squeezed out of shape by the people above and below him. The explosive conclusion is inevitable yet fascinating.

From the Publisher

6 1-hour cassettes

Edition details

• Publisher: Secker & Warburg (1972).
• Publication date: 1972
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0436195801
• ISBN 13: 9780436195808
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 183