Jim thompson biography

Could Thompson have chosen to disappear rather than reckon with nearing bankruptcy? Thompson frequently trekked through the woods and enjoyed going off the beaten path. This was the initial theory, and led to a massive land hunt. More than people searched the jungle by the Moonlight Bungalow for 11 days without any trace of Thompson. Featured photo: Alchetron.

By Catherine Phelan Published Aug 21, Photo Credit: Alchetron. Want more unexplained disappearances? I also want to get the Early Bird Books newsletter featuring great deals on ebooks. Related: Vanished: The Unsolved Disappearance of Paula Jean Welden Others believe that Thompson, who had essentially seized the local Thai silk tradition to make his fortune, had enemies among his competitors.

Get our eeriest tales and best book deals delivered straight to your inbox. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. Follow Us. Corporate Advertise with Us. Back to Top. Yet that neglect might stem from his style: the crime novels are fast-moving and compelling but sometimes sloppy and uneven.

Thompson wrote quickly many novels were written in a month ; using his newspaper experience to write concise, evocative prose with little editing. Yet at his best his novels were among the most effectively and memorably written genre pieces. He also managed unusual and highly successful literary tricks: halfway through A Hell of a Woman , the first-person narrator Frank "Dolly" Dillon has a mental breakdown; the sides of his personality then take turns narrating the chapters, alternately violently psychotic telling the sordid tale that happened or sweet-natured and patient telling the idealized fantasy that did not happen.

In the final page of the original manuscript the two sides of Dillon's broken personality appear together as two columns of text. The publisher disliked that and instead alternated the two narrations in a long paragraph, alternating standard Roman type and italicized type. Thompson disliked the change, thinking it confusing and difficult for the reader.

For most of his life Thompson drank heavily; the effects of alcoholism often featured in his works, most prominently in The Alcoholics which is set in a detoxification clinic. Donald E. Westlake , who adapted The Grifters for the screen, observed that alcoholism had a great role in Thompson's literature, but it tended to be tacit and subtle.

Westlake described typical personal relationships in Thompson novels as pleasant in the morning, argumentative in the afternoon and abusive at night—behavior common to the alcoholic Thompson's style of life but which he elided from the stories. Two of Thompson's books The Getaway and The Killer Inside Me were adapted as Hollywood motion pictures during his lifetime receiving relatively poor reviews.

However, Polito argues that neither adaptation was ultimately true to Thompson's spirit. French director Bertrand Tavernier adapted Pop. Aside from shift in setting, Polito argues that Coup de Torchon was remarkably faithful to the plot and the spirit of the novel, and—along with the film The Grifters —remains arguably the most authentic adaptation of any of Thompson's work.

This noir masterpiece set in the grim Paris outskirts features a year-old Marie Trintignant 's debut performance as well as what is generally agreed to be Patrick Dewaere's finest performance. Dewaere conveys a tragic dimension to his manic portrayal of a mediocre door-to-door salesman, at one point repeatedly bashing his head against a car in an effort to exorcise his angst and guilt.

In the early s, Hollywood resumed its interest in Thompson's writing and several of his novels were re-published. The Getaway was remade in with Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger in the lead roles; the film retained the happy ending of the earlier film and received comparably poor reviews. The latter film starred Billy Zane and Gina Gershon as a pair of twisted siblings.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikiquote Wikidata item. American novelist — This article is about the American fiction writer. For other people of the same name, see James Thompson disambiguation. For the Virginia politician, see James M.

Thomson Virginia politician. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Life and career [ edit ]. Early work [ edit ]. First novels [ edit ]. Fifties maturity and The Killer Inside Me [ edit ]. Film work with Stanley Kubrick [ edit ].

Later novels, television work and novelizations [ edit ]. Later life and death [ edit ]. Style [ edit ]. Film adaptations [ edit ]. By the time dusk fell and concern duly mounted, the police were called. More than police officers and soldiers combed the jungle with tracker dogs in tow. Helicopters soon joined the search, as did some 30 aborigine tribesmen.

As time marched on, the methods employed to find Thompson grew all the more peculiar. Local witch doctors, clairvoyants and even Peter Hurkos, a psychic detective who found fame with the Boston Strangler case, all claimed they could find the missing entrepreneur — but none did. New theories continue to surface even today, more than four decades since Thompson was last seen.

The film argued that Thompson was not on holiday in the region, but rather on a covert mission that became his last. With conclusive evidence yet to surface, the mystery of his disappearance may never be uncovered. It was the start of Thompson's eleven year affair with Yost's wife, Irena. In , she had a child, but neither Thompson nor Yost could establish paternity prior to DNA testing.

Thompson used his contacts with the Free Thai and Free Laos Lao Issara groups to gather information and defuse conflicts on Thailand's borders. Working with him in the legation was Kenneth Landon , an American missionary whose wife, Margaret Landon , was the author of Anna and the King of Siam , which was the inspiration for the film of the same name , and the film The King and I.

In late , Thompson headed for home to seek his discharge from the army. After his divorce from Patricia Thraves — , he returned to Thailand to join a group of investors to buy the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. While working on its restoration, he had some differences with his associates and this resulted in him giving up his shares in the company.

He subsequently switched his focus to silk trade. Besides inventing the bright jewel tones and dramatic color combinations today associated with Thai silk, Thompson raised thousands of Thailand's poorest people out of poverty. His determination to keep his company cottage-based was significant for the women who made up the bulk of his work force.

By allowing them to work at home, they retained their position in the household while becoming breadwinners. Although it abandoned home-based weaving in favor of factories in the early s, the Thai Silk Company's facility in Amphoe Pak Thong Chai , Korat, presents itself more as a beautifully landscaped campus than a typical factory. Thompson was unlike any other figure in Southeast Asia.

He was an American, an ex-architect, a retired army officer, a one-time spy, a silk merchant and a collector of antiques. Most of Thompson's treasures, if not all, were amassed after he came to Thailand. In , Thompson began what was to be the pinnacle of his architectural achievement — the construction of a new home to showcase his objets d'art.

Using parts of old up-country houses — some as old as a hundred years — Thompson succeeded in constructing a masterpiece that involved the reassembling of six Thai dwellings on his estate.

Jim thompson biography

Most of the units were dismantled and brought over by river from Ayutthaya , but the largest — a weaver's house now the living room — came from Bangkrua. On arrival, the woodwork was offloaded and pieced together. In his quest for authenticity, Thompson saw to it that some of the structures were elevated a full floor above the ground. During the construction stage, he added his own touches to the buildings by positioning, for instance, a central staircase indoors rather than having it outside.

Along the way, Thompson also reversed the wall panels of his quarters so that it now faced inside instead of it having an external orientation. After Thompson was through with its creation, he filled his home with the items he had collected in the past. Decorating his rooms were Chinese blue-and-white Ming pieces, Belgian glass, Cambodian carvings, Victorian -era chandeliers, Benjarong earthenware, Thai stone images, Burmese statues, and a dining table which was once used by King Rama V of Thailand.

Thompson dedicated nearly a year to the meticulous creation of his opulent mansion. Today, transformed into a museum, the Jim Thompson House is conveniently accessible via public or private transportation. Known for its architecture and historical significance, the site is popular for tourists, featuring in the top 5 must-visit places in Bangkok according to TripAdvisor's rankings.