- Paperback: 289 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books; First THUS edition (29 Aug 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0143037307
- ISBN-13: 978-0143037309
- Product Dimensions: 19.5 x 13.5 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,526,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
Praise for The Right Madness:
‘The Poet Laureate of American hard-boiled literature, superior even to James Lee Burke. No-one writes likes Crumley…a dark and memorable quest for salvation against a background of unremitting violence. Deeply compelling.’ Guardian
‘Reading Crumely is like hurtling through an assault course. A rare and exhilarating stylist… he is funny, salty and ruthless. One of the marvels of contemporary crime writing. Nobody does it better. It's unlikely that anyone would dare to try.’ Literary Review
‘The old boy done good as usual. Long may he live!’ Independent on Sunday
‘This is pulp fiction at its most profane, visceral and poetic’ Sunday Times
Praise for The Final Country:
‘This is an extraordinary double-barrelled blast from a lost era. It’s a two-fisted epic of Texan treachery, packed to the gunwales with sex, drugs, booze and guns.‘ Independent
‘Lyrical, liberal, exciting and humane. Sexy, too, with a generosity that transcends taste and as violent as needs be.’ Literary Review
‘This complex thriller is so hardboiled it makes Ellroy and Connelly read like Simon and Garfunkel…it’s good. Very good’ Time Out
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.Review
Praise for The Right Madness: 'The Poet Laureate of American hard-boiled literature, superior even to James Lee Burke. No-one writes likes Crumley!a dark and memorable quest for salvation against a background of unremitting violence. Deeply compelling.' Guardian 'Reading Crumely is like hurtling through an assault course. A rare and exhilarating stylist! he is funny, salty and ruthless. One of the marvels of contemporary crime writing. Nobody does it better. It's unlikely that anyone would dare to try.' Literary Review 'The old boy done good as usual. Long may he live!' Independent on Sunday 'This is pulp fiction at its most profane, visceral and poetic' Sunday Times Praise for The Final Country: 'This is an extraordinary double-barrelled blast from a lost era. It's a two-fisted epic of Texan treachery, packed to the gunwales with sex, drugs, booze and guns.' Independent 'Lyrical, liberal, exciting and humane. Sexy, too, with a generosity that transcends taste and as violent as needs be.' Literary Review 'This complex thriller is so hardboiled it makes Ellroy and Connelly read like Simon and Garfunkel!it's good. Very good' Time Out
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
James Crumley has written a series of brilliant books with the best, in my opinion, being the Mexican Tree Duck. Things have deteriorated since then with The Right Madness being perhaps the worst of all his private eye books. Beautiful english and great descriptions but a disjointed and irrational plot. Far, far too many coincidences and a completely unbelievable central thesis. I had to read the book twice (and, sadly, make notes) in order to follow any kind of coherent story.
If you're a newcomer to Crumley and have started with this book, don't despair and go back to the early stories and start again.
If you're a newcomer to Crumley and have started with this book, don't despair and go back to the early stories and start again.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm a great admirer of Crumleys earlier work - 'The Collection' (of his first 3 detective novels) and 'The Mexican Tree Duck' in particular are, I believe, comparable to Chandler. Gripping reads, atmospheric, great characterisation.
This though is confused & confusing - major plot twists & characters suddenly appear with no warning - the plot itself is preposterous - and without giving too much away, almost everyone turns out to be guilty or dead.
In place of believable characters and storyline we get the modern inferior replacement - a high body count & increasingly unlikely & gory horror.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of the most astonishing thrillers have ever read, which doesn't make it good, just astonishing. Totally unbelievable, with characters that you alternately want to like or shoot. If I had a gun, I'd put it to CW's head and tell him to get to Minneapolis and tell Whitney he's sorry. Or I'd tell him to submit to Cleo's advances. Whichever I did, he'd go his own sweet (and sour) way.
It's not often I feel this strongly about a book and I don't know whether to recommend it. Guess you'll have to make your own mind's up. Will have to read other titles by Crumley which may be the point of the exercise.
It's not often I feel this strongly about a book and I don't know whether to recommend it. Guess you'll have to make your own mind's up. Will have to read other titles by Crumley which may be the point of the exercise.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A bad souffle
This is the last work by Mr Crumley before his death and features the regular character PI C.W. Sughrue. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Officer Dibble
Dead bodies everywhere (someone tell me whodunnit again?)
If you haven't read any of James Crumley's previous Milo and Sonny books then this may not be the best place to start. Read more
Published on 6 July 2006 by Rowena Hoseason
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