Author James Sallis, "who had the detectives and sheriffs of his stories investigate not merely crime but also the nature of memory and the possibility of self-knowledge," died January 27, the New York Times reported. He was 81. In addition to his 18 novels, he translated a novel from the French; wrote a biography; helped run a British sci-fi magazine; edited an anthology on jazz guitar; wrote criticism, poetry and short stories; and played banjo in a three-piece band.
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| James Sallis | |
Sallis's best known novel was Drive (2005), about a Hollywood stunt driver who is also a wheelman for armed robberies. It was adapted into a 2011 movie, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, and Bryan Cranston.
Sallis also wrote a six-novel series on New Orleans P.I. Lew Griffin, beginning with The Long-Legged Fly (1992) and ending with Ghost of a Flea (2001). "As time went on, Mr. Sallis's books grew more compact and more improvisational," the Times noted. "He allowed himself to be guided by random visions of his imagination, like a person standing by a cabin, woodland behind him, with the sound of a Jeep engine bouncing off a nearby body of water."
"You ask yourself: 'Who is this person?' " Sallis told Craig McDonald for his book of interviews, Rogue Males: Conversations & Confrontations About the Writing Life (2009). "Who is this person in the vehicle coming up around the water? Why is that person coming up there? Have they met before?' As you start asking yourself questions, the story starts forming."
McDonald posted on Facebook that Sallis "was a cherished acquaintance, and profound literary inspiration. His Lew Griffin series was the inspiration for my Hector Lassiter series.... Scholar, literary translator, teacher, novelist, nonfiction writer, singer-songwriter, and musician, I once described James Sallis, the novelist, as embodying his own genre, entirely unto himself. He was also a one-of-a-kind outstanding human being."
The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, Scottsdale, Ariz., which published some of Sallis's early novels through its Poisoned Pen Press, noted that Sallis "was a close friend and mentor to me (Patrick) for nearly 30 years. It's heartbreaking."
Sallis's other books include the John Turner series; Renderings (1995); Death Will Have Your Eyes (1997); The Killer Is Dying (2011); Others of My Kind (2013); Willnot (2016); and Sarah Jane (2019). His most recent book, World's Edge: A Mosaic Novel, is scheduled to be released on February 10 by Soho Press.
In a tribute, Soho Press wrote: "In many ways Jim was the platonic ideal of what a writer can be, though he probably would not like it put thus. As an artist the work was everything to Jim, and he worked without boundaries or careerism. Perhaps best known for his existentialist crime fiction and neo-noirs like Drive... Jim was also a poet, musicologist, literary historian, critic, editor, and teacher....
"As a reader and appreciator of culture, Jim was as curious and uninhibited as he was as a writer. It was a joy to talk about art in all forms with him, but his grand view of literature matched his personal approach to craft. To Jim it didn't matter where or how good work came into existence, or how it was shelved.... We mourn his passing deeply but find joy in the notion that his work will be read for as long as there are books."