Fri 5 Feb 2021
Archived Review: ROSS THOMAS – The Fools in Town Are on Our Side.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[8] Comments
ROSS THOMAS – The Fools in Town Are on Our Side. William Morrow, hardcover, 1970. Avon, paperback, 1972; Mysterious Press, paperback, 1987; St. Martin’s, paperback, 2003.
A long book, 383 pages, most of it about a Poisonville named Swankerton. To clean up a corrupt town, apply Orcutt’s First Law: “To get better, it must get worse.” The crew consists of a crooked ex-cop, an ex-whore, an ex-secret agent named Lucifer Dye, and a boy-wonder boss named Orcutt.
The story is Dye’s, with threads from his past – his boyhood in a Shanghai bordello, his life with Section Two – combining into a full-life portrait. The action is hard, tough, utterly ruthless and ultimately frightening. Corruption is hardly a sufficient word.
After juggling three stories, Thomas finally settles down to the tale of Swankerton. Unfortunately those threads from Dye’s past fizzle out after the long buildup. I don’t believe this has been published yet in paperback, but it might be worth reprinting, pertinent to today’s CIA inquiries – if that piece of action had only been followed up with care.
Rating: B plus.
UPDATE: In this review, I wondered why this book has never come out in paperback. The fact was, and I didn’t know it, that it had. I missed it — the Avon paperback from 1972 — nor was I the only one. Very few copies of that edition show up offered for sale today online.
In the comment he left following Dan Stumpf’s recent review of Red Harvest, Sai Shankar asked me if I’d ever reviewed this book. I said I had, but I didn’t know where it was. Lo and behold, here is is.
February 5th, 2021 at 10:00 pm
It ended up one of Thomas best books, almost certainly influenced by his time on the Daily Oklahoman. Today it is considered one of his masterpieces.
February 5th, 2021 at 10:23 pm
I had forgotten how long a book it is, until I saw how prominently I mentioned it in this review. And every word worth reading, as I discovered the next time I read it.
February 6th, 2021 at 7:05 am
I agree with David. One of my all-time favorite Thomas books. But then, I liked RED HARVEST too.
It was definitely a paperback as I had a copy.
February 6th, 2021 at 11:11 am
Fantastic book, definitely one of Thomas’ best, if not the best. Nice to see the review here.
Steve, your grading must be pretty strict if this only got a B+. You must have been the terror of the campus 🙂
February 6th, 2021 at 12:04 pm
Yes, maybe, but I’d like to think that every student of mine knew exactly why he/she got the letter grade he/she did.
February 8th, 2021 at 6:57 pm
Steve,
I think I might understand where your grade came from since I am guessing you read this as a suspense novel when it is actually a political novel probably closer to mainstream than any other book by Thomas.
As I recall it threw me a bit too in the early chapters since I was expecting more of the kind of slick suspense and international intrigue he usually wrote or at least another violent take on RED HARVEST and instead it is a political novel that uses tropes of those other genres, but to another purpose.
I suspect Thomas was stretching here and while many of us feel he succeeded I can see where some might feel his reach exceeded his grasp.
February 8th, 2021 at 7:03 pm
That explanation certainly fits, and it puts into words what I was unable to say on my own at the time I wrote this old review.
The next time I read it, which will be the third time, I will approach it through a different pair of eyes. Thanks, David!
February 10th, 2021 at 3:18 pm
Hammett’s influence on the genre (one might go so far as to say) ‘he created’, is beyond measure; such that even a layman ought to be able to recognize it. Although these days, even laymen are in doubt, I suppose.
The earlier (1 page ago) discussion of ‘Red Harvest’ I didn’t feel I could adequately address such a milestone without running-on-at-the-mouth and making a fool of myself.
But for example, if we were to take a glance back at Robert Benton’s beautiful ‘The Late Show’ (1977). The detective story ‘with a conscious of itself’ might be the least-most effect which Hammett’s legacy, inspires for us in later decades, in works like this. Another one: ‘The Big Fix’ (1978).
It’s a fine tradition. Have these films ever been reviewed here? I’d like to read what others think.