| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In the quartet of novels about life in Washington DC of which The Big Blowdown is chronologically the first, George Pelecanos intelligently breaks down the thin barriers between the noir thriller and the character-driven novel of embattled masculinity. In the 1930s, Pete Karras and Joey Recevo are friends, backing each other up in street fights round the projects. Both go to war and come back changed; Joey is capable of buying into the criminal subculture and cutting adrift from community and Pete, almost fatally, isn't. He ends up betrayed and crippled and, more than ever, obsessed with doing the right thing himself and making Joey do right again... The observation here of small immigrant subcultures, and different kinds of honour, and the getting of wisdom about things as disparate as a good sharp knife for cooking and killing and the purer sorts of jazz, is stunning. He knows what people are doing whether they are Greek cooks learning about African-American food or cops chasing a serial killer. Above all, though, this is a novel about flawed people making bad choices and worse ones; Pelecanos's sense of place and period is always in the service of his subtle grasp of psychology and his passionate moral commitment. --Roz Kaveney
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"'Pelecanos has enormous strengths as a crime writer. He can't write a dull sentence, his dialogue has great rhythm, his action scenes are ferociously effective. But more than that, he has a powerful social conscience' Observer; 'Pelecanos has joined James Lee Burke and Lawrence Block at the high table of contemporary crime greats' The Times"
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I never thought I would find another author to rival James Ellroy - but I've found the only real contender.
This novel starts slowly then interleaves several character-driven stories leading to an unforgetable climax. Pelecanos clearly loves his tarnished characters and they inhabit a brilliantly realised, seedy Washington of the 1940's.
This is the sort of noir where you can smell the cigarette smoke and taste the bourbon. I read it in two days and I've just ordered all his other novels.
Superlatives galour!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
We follow the fortunes of Peter Karras, a Greek American living in Washington DC, before, during and after World War II. After coming out of the war a hero, Karras, along with his childhood friend Joe Recevo, finds himself drifting along, occasionally providing muscle for the Mafia in their protection rackets. When Karras makes the mistake of showing leniency towards one of his boss's "clients", it's inevitable that he has to be taught a (painful) lesson. The story is ultimately a commentary on how the two friends deal with the different directions their lives have taken, particularly when their paths cross again.
The mood of the time and place are captured with remarkable vividness. Even the street noises are described in such a way that it almost feels as if we are there watching the drama unfold in front of us. I feel this is the defining novel for George Pelecanos and a must read for Pelecanos fans. I can't recommend it highly enough without appearing to gush, so I'll just say that it's a fantastic piece of American literature that manages to capture the 40's very nicely.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well developed characters and a remarkable sense of place and time make this book a real treat. Pelecanos avoids all the usual "ethnic" and genre clichés and develops a fascinating mosaic of characters in post-war America. This was my first Pelecanos book but certainly not the last!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Totally Predictable
After The Wire I thought I'd try Pelecanos - what a disappointment! It wasn't a slum novel, it wasn't a gangster novel and it certainly wasn't a mystery. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Big A
glorious pup fiction
My first Pelecanos -but not the last- I had been intrigued by the reviews and the link to the Wire.
Pelecanos has a great ear for dialogue and superb characterisation,... Read more
Pelecanos has a great ear for dialogue and superb characterisation,... Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2009 by Cedric Daniels
Pelecanos delivers again
George Pelecanos is one of the finest crime writers around. I agree with a previous reviewer that he combines classic noir style with a real insight into the dynamics of a... Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2007 by WMFrazer
James Ellroy meets Raymond Chandler's Greek cousin!
Simply superb - the best novel I've read in years.
This is like early Ellroy, before he went virtually unreadably staccato - pure noir, wisecracking, big city street life, with a... Read more
Published on 10 April 2004 by P. D. Copley
simply brilliant
pelecanos captures the atmosphere of post war washington and portrays the characters against an emerging social structure. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2002
Cracking
This was the first Pelecanos novel I've read, and it reminded me of discovering Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosely or A Morning for Flamingoes by James Lee Burke. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2001 by J. Mcgregor
An amazing implosion of elements
Superbly written and fast paced, you're right there on the streets of DC just after the war. The episodic broken timeline of the first few sections is heart rending and thrilling... Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2000
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
