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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.
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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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. I only wish that he could have written female characters with more strength and believability.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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9 reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
As touching as Jim Thompson gets
24 Dec 1999
Format:Paperback
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.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Raymond Chandler meets The Grapes of Wrath
4 April 2001
Format:Paperback
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Pipelaying in West Texas
23 Dec 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The time is the 1920s. Tommy Burwell has been moving about the country working on jobs ranging from picking apples to laying pipe. He spends his money as fast as he earns it. Now he has heard about a pipelaying job in West Texas, and drifts into the area, waiting for the company to start hiring. The work is hard and dangerous, and working men are considered expendable. Most have no local connections. If they die, they will be buried on the job site - the pipeline is in a convenient ditch. If a man is injured or becomes ill, tough luck.
Tommy has a side arrangement with his friend Four Trey to deal blackjack on payday nights. Payrolls are in cash. The workers live from payday to payday, blowing their money on liquor, cards, and women. Piles of cash draw predators, and some have thoughts for acquiring the cash.
Along the way, Tommy experiences some Texas style justice. He is charged with a crime, but deals can be made. He is told by the sheriff which lawyer he should hire. If convicted, a pardon may be available for a price, even if convicted of murder.
Tommy finds himself caught between various people, the pipeline boss, the law, his friend Four Trey, a woman he has met, and some unsavory characters in the construction camp. The company's prupose is to build the pipeline (there are penalties for being late, and bonuses for being early) - nothing can stand in their way. Everyone has their own motivations. You learn a lot about laying pipe.
Tommy has a side arrangement with his friend Four Trey to deal blackjack on payday nights. Payrolls are in cash. The workers live from payday to payday, blowing their money on liquor, cards, and women. Piles of cash draw predators, and some have thoughts for acquiring the cash.
Along the way, Tommy experiences some Texas style justice. He is charged with a crime, but deals can be made. He is told by the sheriff which lawyer he should hire. If convicted, a pardon may be available for a price, even if convicted of murder.
Tommy finds himself caught between various people, the pipeline boss, the law, his friend Four Trey, a woman he has met, and some unsavory characters in the construction camp. The company's prupose is to build the pipeline (there are penalties for being late, and bonuses for being early) - nothing can stand in their way. Everyone has their own motivations. You learn a lot about laying pipe.
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