
The Grifters by Jim Thompson follows the life of Roy Dillon, a young grifter struggling to navigate his relationships with his con artist mother, Lilly, and his girlfriend, Moira. The story delves into the dark underworld of cons and rackets, portraying a life filled with deception, manipulation, and the constant struggle to survive. Thompson's writing style immerses the reader in a world where characters are morally ambiguous, relationships are fraught with tension, and the plot unfolds with unexpected twists and turns.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for The Grifters include themes of violence, deception, dysfunctional relationships, and potentially triggering character behaviors such as manipulation and betrayal.
From The Publisher:
Jim Thompson's classic The Grifters is one of the best novels ever written about the art of the con, an ingeniously crafted story of deception and betrayal that was the basis for the critically acclaimed film by Stephen Frears and Martin Scorcese.
To his friends, to his coworkers, and even to his mistress Moira, Roy Dillon is an honest hardworking salesman. He lives in a cheap hotel just within his pay bracket. He goes to work every day. He has hundreds of friends and associates who could attest to his good character.
Yet, hidden behind three gaudy clown paintings in Roy's pallid hotel room, sits fifty-two thousand dollars - the money Roy makes from his short cons, his "grifting." For years, Roy has effortlessly maintained control over his house-of-cards life - until the simplest con goes wrong, and he finds himself critically injured and at the mercy of the most dangerous woman he ever met: his own mother.
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