South of Heaven (Paperback)

by Jim Thompson (Author)

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Vintage (Oct 4 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0679740171
ISBN-13: 978-0679740179
Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.2 x 1.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 282 g

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #333,411 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

In the 1920s the worst place you could be was in that part of Texas that some people call "South of Heaven," and the worst thing you could be doing there was laying a gas pipeline, along with six-hundred other hoboes, juice-heads, and jailbirds. But that's exactly what Tommy Burwell was doing, even though he wasn't smart enough to know better. Even though "South of Heaven" is another term for hell.

Combining a tale of escalating savagery with a dead-eyed group portrait of men at the edge, Jim Thompson has produced a masterpiece of the American dissolute.

About the Author

(1906 - 1977) James Meyers Thompson was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma. He began writing fiction at a very young age, selling his first story to True Detective when he was only fourteen. Thompson eventually wrote twenty-nine novels, all but three of which were published as paperback originals. Thompson also wrote two screenplays (for the Stanley Kubrick films “The Killing” and “Paths of Glory”). An outstanding crime writer, the world of his fiction is rife with violence and corruption. In examining the underbelly of human experience and American society in particular, Thompson’s work at its best is both philosophical and experimental. Several of his novels have been filmed by American and French directors, resulting in classic noir including The Killer Inside Me (1952), After Dark My Sweet (1955), and The Grifters (1963).

Inside This Book (Learn More)

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars Minor Thompson, Aug 20 2001

By	nom de plume (Mission Viejo, CA United States) - See all my reviews

The best part about this novel is its narration of the laying of an oil pipeline, including: the job descriptions, typical personnel, and rugged Texas countryside circa the 1920s. I have read around 18 Thompson novels, and among the best are "Pop. 1280", "The Nothing Man", and "The Killer Inside Me". He probably wrote about 6 to 8 novels that are signature pieces: uniquely Thompson in plot and characterization. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM. It is a good enough story, but if you really want to know what Thompson was about, save this one for later.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Raymond Chandler meets The Grapes of Wrath, April 4 2001

By	James G. Greenhill "Jim Greenhill" (Durango, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was my second Thompson book, after 'The Killer Inside Me' ... & after starting with that, which I keep hearing is one of his best, I was afraid I'd be let down ... afraid because I enjoyed 'The Killer ...' tremendously. Happily, my fear was unfounded ... & I was delighted how different 'South of Heaven' is from 'The Killer ...' & how I got not only a fun piece of crime fiction but also something that evoked some of the same feelings as 'The Grapes of Wrath,' if written entirely differently. Thompson does an excellent job portraying the hard lives of the pipeliners without boring the reader. Tommy Burwell is a great character, too. ... I hope Thompson is in the midst of being rediscovered (judging by how many of his books are in print, maybe so) & I know I'm gonna enjoy him as much as Graham Greene (who's my all-time favorite writer), if for entirely different reasons. Greene, who was a wonderful writer, dismissed his own books as mere "entertainments." The same could easily be (wrong-headedly) said of the two Thompson books I've read thus far ... but oh man are they ever entertaining.

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5.0 out of 5 stars As touching as Jim Thompson gets, Dec 24 1999

By	"leper2000" (North Shore) - See all my reviews

This book really surprised me. There's something of a sense of humanity and impotence that Thompson touches on here that is absent from his other work. Don't get me wrong- the novel is devoid of sentimentality. The setting is dated but that really appealled to me. It functions as a work of history to those of us born in the mid-late seventies. It is also a hard-boiled love-story and crime story taking place at a work camp comprised of hoboes laying a gas pipeline in west Texas, just "south of heavan." As a recent college grad I could really identify with the human protagonist, a kid who has a gift, a set of skills, who is being pushed around by others and on the inside. He has a decision to make. And that decision isn't as obvious as everyone is telling him it is. What I love about Jim Thompson is that nothing is black and white. Nothing is one or two diminsional. There are good guys and bad guys. Most of the time its the supposed bad guy, or a terrific sociopath that the reader is forced to identify with. And if a guy is really bad through and through, Thompson gives you a damn good reason why. This isn't my favorite Jim Thompson book. I prefer the classics like After Dark my Sweet, the Getaway, The Killer Inside Me, etc. etc. But South of Heavan definitely belongs in the top ten, maybe even top five in the pantheon.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Men First
Jim Thompson's "South of Heaven" is a beautifully written portrait of man and machine's effort to conquer the wild nature of both America and humanity itself. Read more

Published on Nov 18 1998