It’s been mentioned here a few times how much Elmore Leonard liked George V. Higgins’ novel, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, and the book was also mentioned a couple of times at the Bouchercon convention I was at a couple weeks ago in Baltimore (it’s a convention of crime writers and fans of crime fiction - it was fun, next year’s is in Indianapolis).

Anyway, I’d never read the book so I finally picked it up and the opening line is:

Jackie Brown at twenty-six, with no expression on his face, said that he could get some guns.

Gee, where have I heard that name before?

I’ve only read the first couple of chapters so far but it is really good.

It is an excellent novel.  I read it for the first time two years ago. 

Mr. Leonard wrote an introduction to this book.  Follow the link below:

THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE by Elmore Leonard

This is one of the many books that currently sits on my Amazon wish-list.
Let us know what you think John, as you get further through it.

Has anyone read any of George V. Higgins other novels?
After a little bit of reading-up, I discovered that The Friends of Eddie Coyle was his first published novel, but after that he wrote 26 further novels, a couple of non-fiction political books, sports, and also a book called On Writing.
An interesting point: He claimed to have written fourteen novels, prior to The Friends of… which he later destroyed.

incredibly interesting

You’re quite right: Incredible was the wrong word.
I have amended it.

Jade - 01 November 2008 11:11 PM

You’re quite right: Incredible was the wrong word.
I have amended it.

I’m not surprised to hear he wrote a lot of books before The Friends of Eddie Coyle was published. Like EL says, you need to write a million words to get your style and 14 novels at 75,000 words each is just over a million words. And, in Eddie Coyle Higgins has distilled his style down to the bare essentials. Usually it takes a writer a lot of writing to have the confidence to tell the story in the fewest words possible. I think it was Mark Twain who said, “I would have written a shorter letter if I’d had more time.”

If the rest of the books he wrote were similar in any way to Eddie Coyle, chances are few publishers would have “got” them. A book like this that’s such a total break from the style and storytelling traditions would be a hard sell - following the small-time characters, no clear good and bad, every character with a personal agenda - it’s a little more common today, but still a hard sell.

I think what’s more shocking is when a writer gets the first book they write published - though I don’t think it happens very often.

shocking is jupter
sitting above
a crescent
moon
has anyone
read
“on writing”
?

son slater - 03 November 2008 09:57 PM

shocking is jupter
sitting above
a crescent
moon
has anyone
read
“on writing”
?

I haven’t read any of his novels or non-fiction. But they are on the to read list. I may try one of his other novels before The friends of… simply because everyone seems to rave about it so much, I’d like to have a first impression from something later.

I’ve only read the first couple of chapters so far but it is really good.

How’s it coming along, John? Have you finished the novel now?
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

In his introduction to The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Elmore Leonard said; The review in THE NEW YORKER nailed it in the opening paragraph by listing these friends of Coyle – the man himself described as “a small fish in the Boston underworld” – the bank robbers Jimmy Scalisi and Artie Valantropo; the gun dealer Jackie Brown; Dillon the bartender, a character to keep your eye on; and a dealing T-man, Dave Foley.  They’re the book.  They reveal themselves not only by what they do, but also by the way they speak, their sounds establishing the attitude or style of the writing.

I was already writing in scenes, trying to move my plots with dialogue while keeping the voices relatively flat, understated.  What I learned from George Higgins was to relax, not be so rigid in trying to make the prose sound like writing, to be more aware of rhythms of coarse speech and the use of obscenities.  Most of all, George Higgins showed me how to get into scenes without wasting time, without setting up the scene, where the characters are and what they look like.  In other words, hook the reader right away.  I also realized that criminals can appear to be ordinary people and have some of the same concerns as the rest of us

That nails it, too. There are no exclamation points in Eddie Coyle, no weather, no long descriptions of anything and the only dialogue tag is ‘said.’

There’s irony, too, Eddie Coyle actually has no friends. The ending, too, is fantastic.

It’s as good as Swag. Read it, you’ll really enjoy it.

The biggest part of it, I think, is letting the characters tell the story. Eddie Coyle is the same way, there’s no narrator sticking his nose in, there’s nobody with a special ‘moral code’ that needs to be explained. Every character is trying to get something for themselves, but they are ordinary people - just their jobs are gun dealer, bank robber, cop and small fish in the underworld.

There’s also deadpan humour. A black guy walks into the bar and the cop says, “Deetzer, how goes the battle for equal rights?”

“We’re definitely losing.”

Elmore Leonard also said in that introduction, “Five years after EDDIE COYLE, a NEW YORK TIMES review of one of my books said that I ‘often cannot resist a set piece – a lowbrow aria with a crazy kind of scatological poetry of its own – in the Higgins manner.’ And that’s how you learn, by imitating.” Well, I’m really glad to hear that because the reason I finally picked up The Friends of Eddie Coyle was because an editor said my books reminded him of Elmroe Leonard and George V. Higgins (and he also mentioned To Live and Die in LA by Gerald Petievich, so I’m checking that out next). I knew I was imitating Elmore Leonard, I just hadn’t realized how much I was imitating Higgins, too.

Fantastic review, John. It’s got to be read, obviously.
As good as Swag, hey? a bold statement, but if you say it, it must be true.
I have managed to track down a couple of his other novels, in a second-hand book shop in Tokyo, so I will probably start with those.

Really good to hear your thoughts… when I read it myself, I’ll chime in with my own views.

Ditto.  Elmore fans must read Higgins.

To Live and Die in LA was an excellent film.  William Friedkin nailed it.  The French Connection director ratcheted up the intensity with this mid 1980s classic.  Ah, the college years.

JohnMcFetridge - 11 November 2008 01:28 AM

  .....(and he also mentioned To Live and Die in LA by Gerald Petievich, so I’m checking that out next).

TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA is a great movie.  I just picked up the book on Amazon.  They recommended another book by Petievich.  I clicked on SHAKEDOWN and there is an Elmore Leonard quote.

“Shakedown is a gem. Stopped writing to read it, something I have sworn I would never do, but couldn’t help it.”—Elmore Leonard

That’s high praise for Shakedown, have to check it out.

I finished George V. Higgins’ Cogan’s Trade and it’s also really good. From what I’ve seen of the two books so far there could be a Touchstones thread about his books, too.

The biggest difference between Higgins and Elmore Leonard are the women characters. Not enough women in the Higgins.

I’ve always felt that the criticism of the female characters in Elmore Leonard’s books was off-base, more a criticism of the women characters themselves than of his depiction of them. The women of Swag are just as well-developed as the men and just as flawed. Stick, and maybe even Frank, can be sympathetic characters at times but they’re not model citizens. The same is true of Arlene and Karen and Sonny - they just aren’t in the book as much. Lee in Unknown Man #89 is a complete character (in the lit classes they sometimes say ‘round’ and ‘flat’ characters and if you want to use that jargon then one of the things that sets Elmore Leonard apart is that he has no ‘flat’ characters).

Certainly the books have started to be more about the women characters and that may make some people feel the characters are “stronger.”

I must finally admit that I used to be a Higgins fan, but I’ve gone right off him. One of his last books, Swan Boats At Four is boring and awful, a shameful effort from the man who wrote Eddie Coyle. And you can clearly see the thread that joins up the 2 works, the way Higgins’ writing developed; & unfortunately it’s a downhill slope.