The Easiest Thing In the World: The Unpublished Fiction of George V. Higgins [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

George V. Higgins (Author), Matthew J. Bruccoli (Editor), Robert B. Parker (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2004

George V. Higgins, the poet laureate of Boston's criminal underworld, has written such classics of the genre as Cogan's Trade, At the End of the Day, and The Friends of Eddie Coyle—the inspiration for the classic Robert Mitchum film. His dystopic Boston is filled with low-down hoods, crooked fuzz, and ruthless crime bosses, all brought to life by Higgins's trademark dialogue: a pitch-perfect rendering of the criminal vernacular that hits as hard and cuts as deep as the brass knuckles and switchblades wielded by his creations. The Easiest Thing in the World is a riveting collection comprised of stories, film treatments, and two never-before-published novellas. It's the kind of stuff we've come to expect from Higgins: tales of corruption and revenge, wrapped in sizzling dialogue and a wicked sense of humor. The Easiest Thing in the World is an indispensable addition to not only the Higgins library but also the canon of American crime fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Posthumous collections of previously uncollected fiction tend to please only die-hard fans of the late author. But this one deserves to find more readers. These are melancholy stories about guys of a certain age and with heads full of hard-fought wisdom about women, faith, their families, and work--but mostly about women. They are lapsed churchgoers, many of them, and they sell cars for a living, or write the newspaper stories nobody's talking about, or pull extra highway patrol duty to earn enough cash to improve the ramshackle country house they bought, nearly over their wife's dead body. It's maybe three on a Sunday afternoon and they're sitting two stools down the bar, and after a while they come unhunched from the Tom Collins they've been nursing and remark about the weather in slow preamble to telling you the story of their lives, nodding along sagely to yours. Several of the shambling, rambling monologues presage Mamet--except that Higgins seemed to feel empathy for his sad sacks. Ultimately, these are museum pieces. But people still enjoy museums, don't they? Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

George V. Higgins was a former Boston district attorney and newspaper columnist. The author of numerous works of crime fiction, including The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Cogan’s Trade, and A City on a Hill, Higgins died in 1999. Matthew J. Bruccoli, the Jefferies Professor of English at the University of South Carolina, is the editor and author of many biographical and critical works on American writers.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (November 2, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 0786714743
• ASIN: B001G7RCTI
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,026,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage George Higgins Writing in Small Bites, November 16, 2004

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Easiest Thing In the World: The Unpublished Fiction of George V. Higgins (Hardcover)

If you have been a fan of George Higgins's writing, you probably know that he had an unerring ability to tell a story, capture the state of mind of the teller, and provide an unexpected reward at the end of the story by tying seemingly disconnected story skeins together. In The Easiest Thing in the World, those qualities are present in all of their glory.

None of the material has been published in the U.S. before. Chances are that each novella, novelette, short story and script treatment will be new to you. Three of the short stories were published in London before in The Sins of the Fathers. The Habits of Animals: The Progress of the Seasons is reprinted from The Best American Short Stories of 1973. Old Earl Died Pulling Traps was previously published in a limited collector's edition of 300 copies.

The stories involve the usual criminals, slightly sleazy attorneys, seedy characters, harried cops and DA's, and cheating spouses. But the stories also introduce highly original, quirky characters that seem to spring naturally from New England's northern rocky soil.

What is most impressive about the book is that the work is uniformly of high quality. With so many brief stories, Higgins also has a chance to better sneak up on you with his surprises than he can in a novel. I found myself being bitten by unexpected plot developments from all directions, almost like Maine's black flies in June except for being far more pleasant.

My favorite offering in the book was The Last Wash of the Teapot. This story made me think of how Faulkner might have written about small New England towns. The Devil Is Real was a close second in my estimation for its subtle development of the nature of evil.

I found myself hoping that someone will take the concept from Jack Duggan's Law and develop a television series from it. Duggan is a fascinating character who would overshadow Boston Blackie in such a series.

As a masterpiece in relating one's history and that of one's family and community, few stories can hope to compete with Slowly Now the Dancer.

The first two stories in the book are companion pieces, The Easiest Thing in the World and The First of the Year, in the expected Higgins crime groove. I'm sure they were selected to open the book because they come closest to meeting the expectations of those who loved The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Digger's Game, and Cogan's Trade.

An End to Revels is one of those stories that brutally unmasks the hypocrisy that allows the world to function . . . and asks whether or not it's a good idea to take the mask off.

Life Was Absolutely Swell is one of those white collar crime stories that will stay with you for quite a while.

If you ever doubted that Mr. Higgins had a strong sense of irony and humor, be sure to enjoy The Heroic Cat in the Bag. It's a masterpiece!

I encourage you to take your time reading this volume. If you have already read the best of George Higgins that had been published previously, this will be your last new treat of his writing.

Another benefit of this volume is a thoughtful introduction by Robert B. Parker that helps put Higgins in perspective as a crime writer.

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read for Higgins' die-hard fans, September 30, 2009

By 

N. Sinclair (Free Union, Va USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Easiest Thing in the World: The Unpublished Fiction of George V. Higgins (Paperback)

Hard to believe Mr. Higgins is gone, and that there will be no more "talking stories" from his pen, but that's the case.
Fortunately here is a last serving of his previously unpublished writings.
Mostly short stories, with a novelette included, I found all enjoyable although it required the brief sequel to one to bring clarity to the preceding story. Might be my own fault, because I get so wrapped up in the great dialogue that I occasionally lose sight of the plot, thereby missing the hidden clue carefully planted in plain sight!
I am glad this is available, and recommend it to those who already know and like Mr. Higgins' work. Whether it is a suitable introduction for new readers may be another matter.
Me, I was you, I'd probly start with his 3 Kennedy novels, which I did. Then graduate to the nitty-gritty underground crime books, staring perhaps with the easy to read Cogan's Trade. After that you'll either never want another GVH book, or like me you'll read 'em all.