tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9995718.post7667283903546135641..comments2024-03-24T11:31:02.882-04:00Comments on Olman's Fifty: 38. The Jugger by Richard StarkOlmanFeelyushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521657876810568251noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9995718.post-20843829064278607312010-09-11T07:09:16.968-04:002010-09-11T07:09:16.968-04:00I don't have evidence that Westlake was aware ...I don't have evidence that Westlake was aware of Thompson in 1965, but I'd be willing to bet he was.<br /><br />This isn't evidence, but many years later, he would adapt Thompson's The Grifters for the big screen. That same year, he would name a (particularly mean) character in his Dortmunder novel Drowned Hopes "Tom Jimson."<br /><br />Back to The Jugger: When Parker searches through Tiftus' pockets, he finds this: "...a Zippo lighter inscribed FROM DW TO SF, neither set of initials having any connection with Tiftus."<br /><br />The DW is obviously Donald Westlake. Any ideas on SF?Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02793802690959682811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9995718.post-46879884004643567132010-09-10T13:43:31.117-04:002010-09-10T13:43:31.117-04:00Great observation. The comparison to the crazy she...Great observation. The comparison to the crazy sheriff is exactly the kind of book I was thinking about when I said it was noir, but I had forgotten them. I wonder if there is any evidence that Westlake was aware of Thompson's novels and was consciously or unconsciously making an hommage to them with the Jugger?OlmanFeelyushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17521657876810568251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9995718.post-6384420392063877882010-09-10T12:27:12.181-04:002010-09-10T12:27:12.181-04:00Nice write-up. The Jugger really is underrated --...Nice write-up. The Jugger really is underrated -- even by Westlake himself.<br /><br />I've always thought The Jugger was Westlake's nod to Jim Thompson and his "crazy sheriff" novels like The Killer Inside Me and Pop. 1280 -- much like Butcher's Moon is a clear nod to Dashiell Hammett.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02793802690959682811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9995718.post-70060470189946737982010-09-09T12:10:45.052-04:002010-09-09T12:10:45.052-04:00Nice review. I've always thought of The Jugge...Nice review. I've always thought of The Jugger as Westlake's riff on Jim Thompson's novels about crazy, violent sheriffs. Books like The Killer Inside Me and Pop. 1280.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02793802690959682811noreply@blogger.com